By Ike Abonyi
As a Catholic Christian, I am always uneasy when matters of the church’s concern are thrown into the court of public opinion. If its concerns were to be publicly moderated, the church would not have lasted into the third millennium…and still counting.
Jesus handed over his earthly ministry to Peter and said no Hades could uproot it. He had anticipated that Hades would try but would not succeed because of its solid foundation.
Father Paul “Okunerere” Obayi’s lamentation in social media alleging persecution was touchy. His leaving the Catholic Church for persecution’s sake will not be justifiable and is even unnecessary.
It is devastating news to the general public who are well aware of Fr Okunerere’s immense contributions to the growth of Christianity in Igboland and the Nsukka diocese in particular. His rare courage in confronting and demystifying numerous shrines and deities remains outstanding and at the center of the growth of Catholicism in the Nsukka area.
Before Okunerere crusaded against ancestral shrines, we all knew where we were, and how great deities and shrines [with their Atamas and Ogas] were milking people dry, using all kinds of threats, real and imagined. Some families were perishing because of shrines and deities they knew nothing about but were empowered by their grandparents for their security.
Before Okunerere came crusading, a lot of our people were confused about how to sever relations with these shrines because of the fear of dire consequences. They needed somebody to lean on to confront it and Okunerere provided them with a stand. A lot of communities that were held down by communal shrines were liberated when they found a fallback in Okunerere.
Before Okunerere’s emergence, the Rev. (Dr) Emmanuel Edeh of Elele, Rivers State, was helping and it was more tedious and inconvenient for the people because of distance. The coming of Okunerere was a great relief.
I know it can be argued that church is in the mind and nobody should be forced into it. But the people needed to be helped to wriggle out of some ancestral covenants their parents entered on their behalf. I am also aware that it’s being argued that some of the shrines Okunerere packed away and made a museum in the Cathedral are being recreated in the raging neo-paganism spearheaded by the younger generation. It is still not as widespread as it used to be. And it’s also for the church to devise a means of tackling it headlong since the neo-pagans are not as deeply rooted as the ancestral ones.
Priests and their adoration projects should be strictly monitored to avoid abuse. However, hard-working and sincere ones should be encouraged. Not to monitor them is for the church to experience embarrassing situations like the Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka.
Fr Obayi (Okunerere) has carefully stayed away from controversy and has tried to develop himself intellectually. With the adoration and the shrine removal engagements, Fr Obayi was still able to pursue a PhD in Mass Communication. There goes a priest with diverse potential. He should be helped to develop it.
If his narration in the public domain is true, Fr Okunerere should be handled with caution given his immense contributions, which should make up for any shortcomings. If it’s true that priests were violent even if under provocation, it’s also not good for the image of the church.
Even though the Pope, bishops, and priests are fallible because they are human beings, for us Catholics, they are infallible because they are ambassadors of Jesus Christ. Against this backdrop, I am appealing to Nnaanyi Bishop [of Nsukka Diocese] Most Rev. Godfrey Igwebuike Onah who himself has done marvelous in winning souls to handle this matter with the absolute caution it deserves.
Fr Edeh has about three or four tertiary institutions and numerous other educational and health institutions offering jobs and knowledge to people, winning souls, and growing society. Any priest with the drive and energy to grow the society and win souls within the rules and regulations of the mother church should be encouraged.
The Catholic Church is one of the most structurally organized institutions globally because of the embedded discipline that makes a Parish Priest an absolute leader at that level, the bishop the same at the diocesan level, and the Pope at the apex. These unique characteristics must therefore be jealously guarded by all, both the clergy at all levels and the congregations. If we must err, let it be on the side of ignorance, not malice.
I volunteer to accompany Fr Okunerere to Nnanyi Bishop to apologize for threatening to leave the church, forgetting that persecution is part and parcel of a Christian’s life and that is why it’s said that the blood of the martyrs is the manure of Christianity.
A Martin Luther King is no longer needed in today’s church even with the Catholic dogma intact. I seek the intervention of our mother Mary, the patroness of the church in Nigeria, and St. Theresa, the patroness of the Nsukka Diocese in resolving this matter.
May the Holy Spirit not depart from the minds of all who will influence the peaceful resolution of this needless impasse.
St. Thomas Aquinas says, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.” I believe we all are driven by faith.
Ike Abonyi is a Journalist based in Abuja and Nsukka is his homeland Diocese
