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| Photo Osibanjo, Buhari and Mbaka |
September 17 2016
A report has emerged from an anonymous top Catholic Priest of what is going in Catholic Church since Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka broke the norms and ethics of the Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria. According to the report mailed to Ifeanyi Chijioke; the written report claimed was under order disclosed that Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka is likely no longer following the norms and ethics of the Church. That his arrogance and disobedience has led to fallout with the church; though the latter and Mbaka have been trying to keep it away from the public to save the day.
According to the report, the Priest noted that the reason for disclosing the trend to this writer-Ifeanyi Chijioke was because the excesses of Mbaka is bringing controversies and putting the Church to a tight corner. “Catholic Church is not known for supporting Islam over Christianity and more deadly in a time there is fear of Islamization, the church is neutral and preaches tolerance but Christianity is our benchmark. The Church doesn’t involve deeply in politics to an extent the Church talks more than politicians” it held that the purpose for disclosing the report to this writer was because people are beginning to see everything he does or says as a thing of the Church. “We don’t want tomorrow, should anything happen, it would go down the record that Catholic Church supported a certain man against a certain Christian majority. We want history to hold it firmly that one man supported a certain man against the norms and ethics of Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria” it said.
The Priest who did not put his name in the context further stated that arrogance and disobedience were behind the fallout with the Church. “The Church has a rule and the rule is applicable to all the Priests; no matter your status or whether you run a Ministry with millions of members. As a Priest, you are under oath and it should be a benchmark for your entire attitude. You don’t freely go out of the line because you feel you have amassed wealth and gotten people following you like a housefly following a corpse to the grave. Look, we don’t talk to press men without order from the Bishop or in most cases, only the Bishop is allowed to talk to the press in a deep political issue. This very young man is arrogant and he has had series of issues, he is trying to politicize the Church and nobody is happy with him. His Eminence you know is not happy and neither is any Bishop happy with him, he is disobeying his superiors and he is destroying a lot of things”
You might not see anybody talking to him or coming back to the press to warn him because it would worsen the whole thing. Just imagine a circumstance one man will be going astray, disrespecting His Eminence and the Bishops and he feels less concerned that nothing is happening. The congregation he has was because of the Church he came from, he forgot that he stood on a platform and because he now enjoy connections and have large number of members; it is enough reason to disobey the Church and neglect the order of the Bishops that have been here for years before he came. This will only hamper his growth in the Church and limit him to his Ministry alone; he has to repent and turn to God. The Bishops are the God we see because they are our Fathers and superiors; respecting them is paramount in the Church, Paul said it in the Bible and when you don’t respect them and go against stipulated rules, you are only but a sinner”
If you look at the whole thing, the man has turned into a politician more than a Priest and this has affected his primary responsibility. He has been thrown to the political arena that everybody wants to know what he said about Buhari, Jonathan and others. Nobody wants to hear what he said about God anymore, even though he now hardly says about God. He goes to events or called anywhere and instead of preach God, he preaches a politician he is supporting and this is highly abnormal. You see, this is what the Church tried to stop by making sure Priests stay away from politics and allow Bishops to make meaningful contributions that would decently represent the Church. The major problem with him is his inability to control his pride, he is arrogant and he has disobedient spirit. I will not blame the devil or say he is possessed, he is very much aware of what he is doing and can shake off this but pride has consumed him”
Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka tends to have thrown himself as a willing tool to the political world while some people see his deep involvement as a cover up for his mistakes which he failed to admit. According to the report, the top anonymous Priest who wrote to this reporter-Ifeanyi Chijioke accepted the fact that his uncontrolled involvement in politics was to wash himself of his mistakes or wrong predictions or prophesies as the case may be. “Yes, it would be possible to hold the view that he is involved and gone wild in politics because he played a key role in the last election. He told the people that God sent Buhari and that if Buhari is voted everything will be fine and campaigned vigorously for him against Jonathan; now he is aware that everything he said is negative and with condition of things, it is clear that his choice was the worse option. You see Satan brings tears and afflictions while God brings joy; the affliction on Nigerians is much that there is tears and death and that cannot rightly come from God. Mbaka soaked himself in politics to protect his views and he is now more concerned about vindicating himself and everything he said than worshiping God; this is purely what the Church try to avoid when they said Priests should steer clear the path of politics or speaking to the press on political or controversial things”
His numerous attacks on Jonathan and promotion of Buhari took him away from the holiness Priests are known for and he has destroyed everything we stood for. I cannot imagine a Priest coming everyday to fight a man despite he has made way for you but you continuously tongue lash him and accuse him of everything wrong in Nigeria while every other person is a Saint. The very man he judge has not responded or shown any interest in him, yet he has continued unabated. This is a very big issue and every effort to control him proved futile and as it stands, he is on his own even though we won’t cause unnecessary fuss over that disposition. Instead of go into the Chapel to pray for the man and pray for the present man as a Christian; he has decided to use the office given to him by the Bishop to disrespect Bishops and the Church. I will not call anyone ingrate or judge him but the reward of our work is in heaven. In spite he judge somebody, castigate and sentence anybody, I will not do that on him because judgment is of the lord”
Mbaka had accused Catholic Church of conniving with the People’s Democratic Party to make sure he is removed from his Enugu Parish to a Parish he was made to be under another Parish Priest, a move he considered as punitive measure for his opposition of Jonathan and subsequent campaign for Buhari. He further accused the Church of persecution and began to see Catholic Church as People’s Democratic Party sympathizers. In retaliation for what the Church did to him, he has sustained his attack on Jonathan and supported the APC and its government to the extent he has seen nothing wrong with the government that threw the people into suffering and untold hardship.
While in some quarters, the people believe that Mbaka is supporting APC and the government because he urged the people to vote for the party as the solution to the problem they are facing under Jonathan; but when APC was voted into power, the situation worsened thus making his prediction or view wrong one. Instead of admitting that he made a mistake to have supported or campaigned for the government of APC, he decided to invest time and everything he has to make sure that APC is laundered and seen as what he predicted. According to the report, it says “Nobody is aware of anything like the Church supporting any political party or listening to any political party; the Church is praying for everybody for the good of the country. We are the mediators between the people and God; we don’t take any side but stand neutral and pray not support or attack or speak for any political party or preferential treatment to any leader. The Church make transfers and sometimes you are taken to places you are needed for you to offer your best and help grow the place. The Church is aware of such accusation; we refused to be drawn to that because there was no direct accusation. The press might have interpreted that as accusation but to the Church, it was not an accusation but displeasure which is normal but in the end, you must honour your transfer”
The fallout with the Church was basically anchored on Mbaka’s refusal to obey the internal rules of the Church and according to the report, there is a standing rule that ‘No Priest should talk to the press or grant any interview without the approval of the Bishop. The rule stated that only the Bishop has right to grant interviews to whoever he pleases especially on a political or controversial topic’ this rule seems to have been the apple of discord as Mbaka feels he has overgrown being controlled by the Bishops. He opined that he is too connected to be limited to certain things, according to a different report; he argued that he cannot avoid the press because of his popularity and status in the society. There were unconfirmed reports that said he believes that he is more popular and honoured in the society than most Bishops. He argued that stopping him from speaking is what cannot be possible and is ready for anything that will come out of it; he generally opined that freedom of speech is sacred.
The Bishops fear he could corrupt other Rev. Fathers and maybe stir a revolution in the Church and so he was allowed without much visible opposition. According to another report, it said that his demotion was part of an effort aimed at curtailing his excesses and his claim to ownership of Adoration Ministry is something the Church cannot temper with. It was recorded from an unreliable source that Mbaka said that the only thing the Church can take was everything he built with his own money in the Parish he stayed for 20 years and that nobody will dare his Ministry. While the report to this reporter could not substantiate the claim said to be made by Mbaka, it distanced itself from the issue of everything he said to his close allies.
As a result of this fall out, a close ally to Mbaka who spoke to this reporter noted that Mbaka will never forfeit his Adoration Ministry. “Mbaka cannot easily be de-robed because he is politically connected; you would be surprise to see the court interfere if anything happens to him. The issue is quite complicated and he would prefer to leave the Catholic Church and retain his Adoration Ministry than stay with Catholic Church and lose his Ministry. The best approach is the way this whole thing is being handled and concealed; let him continue until a day we stop hearing from him” he said but went further to blame the Church “When Mbaka was talking for the masses, the Church did not stop him, he attacked Obasanjo and Chimaroke etc. Now he has changed from supporting the masses to supporting politicians and the Church is having issue with that. They could have avoided this when it was tender, as it stands; Mbaka has grown wings that you cannot easily cut. He has backing of the government of the day and he has people coming to his Adoration that cannot easily be convinced to stop” he noted.
The report further stated that the issue will not be left to spill or get blown; it would be in the best interest of everybody to conceal the fallout and maintain the status quo. But it has not stopped the Church from monitoring the situation and will take any decisive action that would arrest the situation. While Mbaka operates outside the rules as stipulated by Bishops; it is clear that there would not be blatant action against him but he should be made to understand that there is fallout between him and the Church as long as he continues to speak without constraint.
There is a belief as contained in the report that Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka is likely to go or now going the way of Rev. Father Edeh. Recall that Rev. Father Edeh left Catholic Church and decided to stand alone; ordaining Rev. Fathers and Sisters on his own accord. This repeat of history is becoming a cause to look into the freedom being given to Catholic Priests as they often go out of order when reached a certain level.
“Catholic Church is becoming vulnerable to deviant Priests who feel they have overgrown orders from the Bishops or their Dioceses and this is why they must be limited to certain things. Mbaka was allowed to amass wealth and enjoy a level of freedom which made him go out of track. Now he is opposing the order of his superiors and trying possibly to connect with Buhari; this is a move to get power to enable him stand any opposition. He is now conscious of connection and wealth; this is more of the reason he would defy the order of the Catholic Church to speak for or against politicians” a contributor said.
“Catholic Church is becoming vulnerable to deviant Priests who feel they have overgrown orders from the Bishops or their Dioceses and this is why they must be limited to certain things. Mbaka was allowed to amass wealth and enjoy a level of freedom which made him go out of track. Now he is opposing the order of his superiors and trying possibly to connect with Buhari; this is a move to get power to enable him stand any opposition. He is now conscious of connection and wealth; this is more of the reason he would defy the order of the Catholic Church to speak for or against politicians” a contributor said.
Effort to know from the source if Catholic Church will eventually take a disciplinary action could not come to fruition because of his consciousness to his limit. “I will not tell you now that there would be any disciplinary action because as we don’t want to make a fuss; it would be very hard to take any action. I have my limits; I seriously have to always be aware of it, action is left for the Bishops and not for me to stay here and tell you. I have already said a lot and you have to take that; your mail will be replied in due time” the report concluded.
Mr.Ifeanyi Chijioke writes for Biafra Post
Editor/Publisher: Akachukwu Udo
For Biafra Reporters
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