Nigerian Diocese “condemns, dissociates herself from” Priest’s “divisive utterances”

Fr. Mbaka’s utterances are “a clear violation of the provisions of canon 287 $2 which forbids priests from engaging in partisan politics,” the officials of Enugu Diocese state, and add, “In an effort to keep him united to the Body of Christ, we enjoin him to refrain from making further provocative prophecies or utterances capable of heating up the polity.”

“We assure the people of God and the general public that the Catholic Diocese of Enugu is taking the due canonical process,” the leadership of the Nigerian Diocese say about the member of the Clergy of the Diocese who has been at the centre of controversy before.

In May last year, members of the Adoration Ministries violently stormed the Bishop’s residence and the Cathedral of Enugu demanding to know the whereabouts of Fr. Mbaka’s after he went missing.

The protesters claimed that their founder, Fr. Mbaka, had gone missing after Bishop Callistus Onaga invited him for a meeting.

Fr. Mbaka resurfaced days later, and rendered his “sincere unalloyed apologies to the Holy, Roman, and Apostolic Church where I belong.”

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Bishop Onaga decreed that the Adoration Ministry Enugu functions as a Chaplaincy.

In the June 16 statement, the Enugu Diocese officials call on the people of God “to continue to pray for peaceful elections.”

They also call on Nigerians “to discharge their civic responsibilities by getting their Permanent Voter's Card (PVC) and casting their votes in order to elect the right candidates.”

“May Our Lady, Queen of Nigeria, intercede for us,” the Auxiliary Bishop of Enugu, the Diocesan Chancellor/Secretary, and the Vicar General implore.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.