CARDINAL ONAIYEKAN’S VICAR GENERAL IN AHIARA DIOCESE RESIGNS The bishopric crisis in the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara, Mbaise, Imo State, appeared to have taken a turn to the worse last week when the Vicar General of John Cardinal Onaiyekan in the diocese suddenly turned in his resignation letter. Information circulated to journalists said that the Vicar General, a renowned professor of philosophy of science at FeOkpalaekederal University of Technology Owerri, Rev Fr [Prof] Louis Asiegbu travelled to Abuja on Friday, April 11, 2014 and handed in his resignation letter to His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan during a private meeting he had with him in his residence. It would be recalled that following the crisis that broke out over the appointment of Msgr. Peter Ebere Okpalaeke to the Episcopal See of Ahiara Diocese on December 7, 2012, by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI [now retired], and his rejection by the clergy and lay faithful of Ahiara Diocese, the Holy Father, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal John Onaiyekan on July 3, 2013, to serve as Apostolic Administrator of the diocese pending the time a solution would be found to the crisis. On assumption of duty as Apostolic Administrator of the diocese on July 20, 2013, His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan appointed Very Rev Fr [Professor] Louis Asiegbu as his Vicar General who would oversee the day-to-day running of the affairs of the diocese since the cardinal being the Archbishop of Abuja Archdiocese and the Metropolitan of Abuja Metropolitan See would not reside in Ahiara Diocese. Since July 2013, Fr Louis Asiegbu has been Cardinal Onaiyekan’s point man in the diocese. Following Fr Louis Asiegbu’s resignation late last week, tension has returned to the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara. The youths and the Catholic faithful of the diocese in general are once more in a battle mood. According to investigations, the vicar general’s resignation was not unconnected with some later developments in the administration of Ahiara Diocese by Cardinal Onaiyekan. Many priests questioned in preparation for this report enumerated the many instances the cardinal had refused to heed to the advices the vicar general had given to him on the Ahiara Diocese crisis. Rather than heed to his representative in the diocese, the cardinal had cultivated the habit of embarrassing his vicar general before priests of the diocese especially the seven priests that proclaim their loyalty to the rejected bishop. Some priests who volunteered their opinions for this report pointed to one particular incident that embarrassed and pained the vicar general very much. He had advised the cardinal against the appointment of one controversial priest to the parish of St Patrick Umuokrika, Ekwerazu, Ahiazu Mbaise LGA. The priest has a notoriously sleazy history in the diocese. The vicar general had drawn the cardinal’s attention to the priest’s history. But he refused to heed and went ahead and made the appointment which became an embarrassing flashpoint for the administration of the Cardinal in the diocese. When the cardinal saw that he had made a terrible mistake appointing the priest to St Patrick’s Parish, he turned around and started blaming his vicar general for not advising him properly about the controversial history of the priest. Many priests interviewed for this report complained that Cardinal Onaiyekan had since last July transformed his appointment as administrator of Ahiara Diocese into something that was never envisaged by both the Holy Father that appointed him and the Catholic faithful of Ahiara Diocese he was sent to administer. The Holy Father had appointed Cardinal Onaiyekan Apostolic Administrator ad Nutum Sanctae Sedis. By that appointment, many priests of Ahiara Diocese claimed, Cardinal Onaiyekan was detailed to look after the pastoral life of Ahiara Diocese, investigate the crisis and report back to the Holy Father at the Vatican for him to take action. And when he began his work in Ahiara Diocese last July, Cardinal Onaiyekan said that his work in the diocese would be very brief. He repeatedly denied that he had come to the diocese to prepare the way for the rejected bishop to take office. He told the faithful of Ahiara Diocese that his work was to observe objectively the situation of the diocese and report his findings to the Holy Father. But shortly after he had made that commitment, Cardinal Onaiyekan reversed himself and turned completely into doing exactly what he had earlier denied he would do. He began to pressure the people of the diocese to accept Bishop Okpalaeke as their bishop. Not getting what he wanted from the people, he began to call the priests and lay faithful of the diocese derogatory names. The Cardinal’s new stance created great tension between him and the priests of Ahiara Diocese who accused him of reneging in his promise. Moreover, the people severally accused the cardinal of neglecting the pastoral work of the diocese for which the Holy Father made him Apostolic Administrator. According to them, the Cardinal refused to administer any sacraments in the diocese besides celebrating sporadic private masses in some parishes of the diocese from time to time. But the main sacraments like administration of the sacrament confirmation, and ordinations of deacons and priests, the cardinal vehemently refused to do. And with his refusal to administer any sacraments in the diocese the relationship between him and the catholic faithful of the diocese grew even worse. The last straw that broke the camel’s back happened on April 3, 2014, when the cardinal secretly slipped into the diocese and held a secret meeting with the seven priests pledging their loyalty to the rejected bishop. Out of the more than two hundred and twenty priests working in Ahiara Diocese, the Cardinal decided to work only with the seven Bishop Okpalaeke-loyalists priests whom he had severally described before the Nigerian bishops as priests of “questionable characters.” He agreed with the seven priests that he would come and install the rejected bishop as the bishop of Ahiara Diocese between April 14 and 15, 2014. He told them that he would come under the guise of trying to celebrate the Chrism Mass for the Diocese which was his duty as the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese. He told the seven priests that it would be during the Chrism Mass that he would read the Papal Decree appointing Bishop Okpalaeke the bishop of Ahiara Diocese after which he would hands off the Ahiara case. Wind of what the cardinal had secretly agreed with the seven priests leaked out. And this resulted in the whole diocese rising up to frustrate his moves. Since the secret plan of the cardinal was revealed to the people of the diocese delegations upon delegations have been pouring into Abuja advising to advise the Cardinal not to stoke up the crisis of the diocese and risk his personal safety in the process. At the time of filing this report, it is not yet clear what the cardinal is planning to do. But one thing the whole priests and lay people of Ahiara Diocese are agreed to is should the cardinal attempt to come to Ahiara Diocese either to install the rejected Bishop Okpalaeke or to read to the hearing of the people the Papal Decree [Papal Bull] making him the bishop of Ahiara Diocese, it will result in unprecedented crisis which might cost innocent lives. The priests and lay faithful are calling on Cardinal Onaiyekan not to embark on anything in Ahiara Diocese that might cause social explosion and endanger both his life and those of innocent Christians of the Diocese.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Apr 2014 13:35:48 +0000
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