“Every priest who is a diocesan priest in this country or anywhere else is directly under the authority of the Bishop of the diocese to which he belongs,” the Archbishop says and adds, “Fr. Mbaka falls under the authority of the Bishop of Enugu diocese and therefore he has a responsibility of calling him to order.”
“I can imagine that this must be giving the Bishop some challenges,” Archbishop Adewale thinks aloud and adds that Fr. Mbaka must be giving his Local Ordinary “a bit of a headache and I feel sorry for him and I hope that he finds some way of dealing with this matter that has been recurring from time to time.”
Hinting to possible punitive measures against Fr. Mbaka, including suspension from his active ministry as priest, the concerned Archbishop says in the video clip, “What could be done in the end is either to say okay you receive the sanction of being stopped from public ministry that’s a possibility. If it is not done, there must be a reason which I do not know.”
Born the only son of his parents, Fr. Mbaka hails from a “noble family” of a late Chief in Nigeria’s Enugu State, with kinspersons “renowned for their special talent in palm wine tapping in the community.”
As a youth, it is documented, Fr. Mbaka was involved in organizing rosary recitation sessions and “was also deeply involved in the rejuvenation of Charismatic group in St. Anthony’s Parish Ituku,” his native parish church.
(Story continues below)
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When he announced his desire to become a Catholic priest, he faced resistance from his relations. “His kinsmen not only opposed the idea but also persecuted their little boy and made life one miserable experience for him,” the Facebook post indicates.
Following his ordination to priesthood in July 1995, Fr. Mbaka “was posted to the Holy Ghost Cathedral, the headquarters of Catholic Church in Enugu Diocese as the Assistant Diocesan Administration,” reads in part the Facebook post on the account “Legion Of Mary in Nigeria Institutions,” which has a narrative of Fr. Mbaka’s auto-biography.
Sr. Jecinter Okoth contributed to the writing of this story
Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla is ACI Africa’s founding Editor-in-Chief. He was formed in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans), and later incardinated in Rumbek Diocese, South Sudan. He has a PhD in Media Studies from Daystar University in Kenya, and a Master’s degree in Organizational Communication from Marist College, New York, USA.