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| Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka |
The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria
on Monday expressed concern over the “excesses” of a Roman Catholic Priest,
Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, whose recent comments on the 2015 general elections have
continued to generate ripples. Mbaka had in his New Year message slammed
President Goodluck Jonathan, asking him to quietly resign from office.
The Punch reports while calling on
the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Bishop Callistus Onaga, to caution the
priest, the CSN said Mbaka’s comments concerning the President and the
forthcoming general elections were his personal opinion and not that of the
Catholic Church.
Secretary-General of CSN, Rev Fr.
Ralph Madu, in an interview with The
Punch in Abuja, said there were better ways for Mbaka to pass his
message across “considering the explosive nature of this country.”
He said, “With the way the Catholic
Church operates, he (Mbaka) belongs to a Diocese and it is the responsibility
of his Bishop to draw his attention to that; the name of the Bishop of Enugu
Diocese is Bishop Callistus Onaga. The Bishop of Enugu Diocese should draw his
attention to it; the (Catholic) Church doesn’t ignore such excesses because
there is a procedure.
“If I get a vision to go and kill
somebody, will I go and kill? That is what I am telling you, that people like
him (Mbaka) have many followers and all over the world, they are the same. When
they claim that the spirit is telling them something, who are you to question
the spirit? But if the Holy Spirit is telling you something, you must say it in
a manner that will forestall confusion and trouble. That is how things are
done, it is not the Catholic Church that is speaking; it is just an individual,
just one priest. I think if it is taken that way, it will be properly
understood.”
According to him, some charismatic
leaders “say so many things and most times, they claim they are getting their
inspiration from the Holy Spirit or from God.”
He added, “Fr. Mbaka is a popular
guy and not like the rest of us and what makes him popular are these prophecies
and that is why people are following them. So, I think his Bishop can draw his
attention to it.
“You know people like him have many
followers and they celebrate them and they visit them for healing and many
other spiritual pilgrimages. That is why they attract such type of crowd. Even
though he doesn’t make much noise like us, they are the people who have their
own followers, and that is why everybody is concerned.”
When asked what the Catholic Church
says about visions and prophecies and whether the priest has not been deviating
from the Catholic dogma, the CSN scribe said there were better ways of passing
across such messages.
He said, “People get messages in visions
but if you are talking of the sensitivity of what you are saying, that is the
issue. Most times, even when people have the truth, you don’t open your mouth
wide. You can be saying something that is true, but there are some ways of
passing across that message in a way that it will be acceptable, considering
the explosive nature of this country and many other factors.”
Before he “fell out” with Jonathan,
Mbaka was one of the President’s supporters and was said to have endorsed him
for re-election.
In November 2014, during the annual
thanksgiving and bazaar organized by his church, which had many dignitaries,
including the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and wife of the
President, Patience Jonathan, in attendance, Mbaka had reportedly said the President
had “done well” and deserved another term in office.
He had said Jonathan could have accomplished
more if not for “distractions,” adding that “campaigners have no reason asking
the President to return the (Chibok) girls home since Mr. Jonathan was not
keeping them. Jonathan is not a kidnapper.”
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