AHIARA DIOCESE IN CROSSHAIRS: THE REAL STORIES …10 [EXCERPTS FROM A BOOK IN PRINT]

Chapter 3: The Gathering Storm [ii]

We would be on this reflective mood until Friday, December 21, 2012. This was the day the bishops of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province paid a visit to the Presbyterium of Ahiara Diocese. Led by the metropolitan, Most Rev Anthony J.V. Obinna, Archbishop of Owerri Archdiocese, and chairman of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Owerri Province, all the six active bishops of the province were present at the meeting. These included Bishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji of Umuahia Diocese, Bishop Vincent Valentine Ezeonyia, C.S.Sp. of Aba Diocese, Bishop Solomon Amatu of Okigwe Diocese and Bishop Augustine Ukwuoma of Orlu Diocese. The only absentee at the meeting was the Bishop Emeritus of Orlu Diocese, Most Rev Gregory Ochiagha.

After the preliminary issues of introducing the bishops present to the Ahiara Diocese Presbyterium, the leader of the delegation, Archbishop AJV Obinna, told the priests that they had come in response to a letter they had gotten purporting to be rejecting Msgr. Ebere Peter Okpalaeke whose appointment as bishop-elect of Ahiara Diocese was made on Friday, December 7, 2012, by the Holy Father, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. As he spoke, the whole Cathedral Church, being the venue of the meeting, was in dead silence. It appeared as if an omen had descended on the entire diocese. Archbishop Obinna would go on to advise the priests to exercise the promise they made during their ordinations to obey their bishops and the Holy Father unconditionally. He acknowledged that there was room for the diocese to express her displeasure over the appointment but that as the Holy Father had already pronounced Msgr. Okpalaeke as bishop of Ahiara Diocese, there was nothing anybody could do about it again.

One of the issues that caused the priests present to raise an eyebrow was when Archbishop Obinna alluded that it had not been petitions written by any priests from Ahiara Diocese that had resulted in the appointment of a non-Mbaise priest as the bishop-elect of the diocese. He said that whatever caused the appointment of Msgr. Okapaleke as bishop of Ahiara Diocese was beyond his knowledge. Archbishop Obinna assured the priests present that everything had been done on the part of the bishops of the province to ensure that Ahiara Diocese got the type of a bishop she had been praying for, namely, bishop from their own diocese to continue the great work started by the late Bishop Chikwe.

According to Archbishop Obinna, somewhere along the line, the plan of the bishops of the province for Ahiara Diocese was not carried through. At the mention by Archbishop Obinna that it had not been petitions written by Ahiara Diocesan priests that had led to that controversy, there was a huge roar of relief and back slapping. This was necessary because since the appointment was announced, a huge part of Mbaise indigenes and their detractors from all across Nigeria and beyond had been accusing the priests of Ahiara Diocese of being the architect of what was generally considered as their misfortune, namely, the fact that they were collectively overlooked by the Vatican in the appointment of the bishop of their diocese. But when the archbishop appeared to exculpate the priests of Ahiara Diocese from blame over the appointment, the priests roared in appreciation.

The archbishop told Ahiara diocesan priests that the rule that had held true since the beginning of the Church was that once the Holy Father made an appointment; nobody had the power to challenge it ever again. He would emphasize and reiterate over and over again that though there were some grounds for the people of Ahiara Diocese, and, in fact, the people of the province to be aggrieved over the appointment of Msgr. Okpalaeke as bishop of Ahiara Diocese, there was nothing anybody could do again as the appointment had already been made by the Holy Father and could not be taken back.

Immediately the archbishop made such a pronouncement, a big uproar broke out among the priests in the audience. More than half of the priests present at the meeting began walking out on the bishops. A good number of them would remain outside for quite sometimes insisting that they would never accept the line of thinking of the bishops. They insisted that the bishops would have to convince both the Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Kasujja, and the Holy Father to change the appointment for the good of the people of the diocese. The priests promised that they would resist any effort by anybody to impose Msgr. Peter Okpalaeke on them as the bishop of Ahiara Diocese.

One or two of the priests present held some contrary views. They congratulated the bishops for intervening in the matter and, on the other hand, tried to persuade the priests to listen to what they described as “voices of wisdom” from the provincial bishops. But they were shouted down each time they wanted to speak. The whole gathering was reduced to some kind of a pandemonium. But Archbishop Obinna would continue to insist that the appointment having already been made by the Holy Father would have to stand no matter what the priests thought about it. He used an Igbo proverb to describe what had happened in the case of the bishopric of Ahiara Diocese. According to him: Nsi abalaa abaa, ihe o fuziri bu ikpo nkita [The faeces mess has already occurred; what remained to be done was to invite the dog to clean up the mess].

Reflecting on what had happened, Archbishop Obinna said that he and the bishops of the province had worked very hard to see that the bishop of Ahiara Diocese was chosen from among the priests of the diocese but somewhere along the line, their efforts were not allowed to prevail. He said that sentimentally speaking everybody felt for Ahiara Diocese, but the situation had gone beyond their control as the Holy Father had made his appointment and there was nothing any of them could do again.

However, once Archbishop Obinna stated again that there was nothing that could be done to rectify the situation, many priests again walked out of the Cathedral claiming that if there was nothing that could be done anymore, then there was no need for the meeting in the first place. They insisted that the battle to stop Msgr. Okpalaeke from assuming the position of the bishop of Ahiara Diocese would go on.

It was at that juncture that many other bishops began making their contributions. Bishop Ugorji spoke up that it was unfortunate that many people exploited the secrecy of the process of choosing a bishop to manipulate it. He urged Ahiara priests not to carry their revolt too far. According to him, the argument of Ahiara Diocese that they wanted one of their own as their bishop could not be sustained as it was at variance with the way the church operated. He gave some examples with some bishops, including his own person, who were not operating in their dioceses of origin. He told Mbaise priests that he was a native of Naze in Owerri but serving as a bishop in Umuahia Diocese. Bishop Ugorji’s contribution would do very little to calm down the commotion.

The next bishop to contribute was Bishop Amatu. He spoke in anger saying: Ife a unu na-ekwu banyelu ndi Anambra na ndi Dunukofia, anyi anusisigo ya mbusu. O naghi ewute anyi. Ife m na-ekwu bu na o diru mma ka ndi Ahiara priests na-emegasi amara dika Motor Park touts. [All that you are saying about Anambra and Dunukofia, we have heard them all before. It does not disturb or worry us any bit. The only thing I am saying is that it is not good for priests from Ahiara Diocese to behave like Motor Park touts].

The claim that Ahiara diocesan priests were behaving like Motor Park touts by Bishop Solomon Amatu felt like gasoline poured into a raging fire. For a short while, the whole Maria Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral felt like a Bedlam. Not a few priests felt that the bishop had insulted the Presbyterium of Ahiara Diocese. But Bishop Amatu felt unruffled. Rather he insisted that the priests must retrace their steps and accept the bishop the Holy Father had given them.

When a little sanity was restored, the bishop of Aba Diocese, Most Rev Vincent Ezeonyia made his contribution. Reacting to the insistence by the priests that they would not move an inch from their total rejection of Msgr. Okpalaeke as their bishop, Bishop Ezeonyia told Mbaise priests that Ife na-esi ndi Mbaise isi di fa n’ime [whatever produces the stench about Mbaise people is embedded in their soul and bodies], meaning that it was that kind of action being embarked upon by Mbaise priests on the appointment of Msgr. Okpalaeke that made Mbaise people unpopular in Igbo land. However, whatever Bishop Ezeonyia was trying to communicate to the priests was drowned out in the uproar that was all over the Cathedral. At that point in time, the priests in the audience appeared to have had enough. Every one of them insisted that the bishops would have to listen to them.

The meeting of that December 21 would end on that angry and inconclusive note. Both the bishops and the priests left for home without any agreement on the way forward about the appointment that was announced by the Holy Father on December 7, 2012. But after that meeting one thing became quite clear to both the bishops and the priests of Ahiara Diocese, namely, the acceptance of Msgr. Okpalaeke as the bishop of Ahiara Diocese would not be an easy sale in Mbaise land. The bishops would begin to realize how tough the realization of Msgr. Okpalaeke’s bishopric in Ahiara Diocese would become.

The rowdy meeting of Friday, December 21, would spill over to the activities in Maria Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral, the next day, Saturday, December 22, 2012. That was the day a big ceremony to honour the diocesan couples that had attained fifty years in their marriages was holding in the cathedral. The administrator, Msgr. Nwalo, was the chief celebrant of the Holy Mass that was being offered to mark the occasion.

On a personal note, I was not meant to be present during the occasion because I was rushing back to Owerri to continue my work on the brochure I was preparing for the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of my priestly ordination on December 28. The date had come dangerously close that I was very afraid that I might not get everything ready to carry out the type of celebration I was envisaging. Around 9.00 a.m. of December 22, I came to the Cathedral and distributed some of my invitation cards before rushing back to Owerri to continue the proof-reading of the brochure and the book I was preparing to present the public during the Silver Jubilee celebration.

However, while I was away to Owerri, something would happen during the Mass of the matrimonial Golden Jubilee celebration that would cause a firestorm in the diocese. During his closing remarks in the Mass, the administrator, Msgr. Theo Nwalo, was said to have read once again the letter from the Nuncio announcing the appointment of Msgr. Ebere Peter Okpalaeke as the bishop-elect of Ahiara Diocese. But in a moment of apparent confusion he added that despite what was happening among the priests the diocese would have to begin to plan on how to host the ordination and installation of the new bishop. In the language of those who overheard the administrator make his comment on the bishopric question, he had said point blank that after the crisis on the appointment the diocese would have to come together to prepare for the ordination and installation of the new bishop.

The administrator’s announcement and comment would cause such a firestorm among the priests of the diocese that many began to call for his immediate resignation from his position. Many priests left the celebration half-way and decided that the administrator must be forced to resign his position. The furore generated by the administrator’s comment would continue to boil over until Monday, December 24, 2012, when there was convened a very controversial Presbyterium meeting at the Priests’ Home located at Sacred Heart Parish Nguru Centre.

I would not get to know the depth of anger against the administrator until I arrived for that meeting. And I came a little late. But there in the meeting, one of the most senior clergy of the diocese moved the motion demanding that the Presbyterium ousts the administrator, Msgr. Nwalo from his office. The motion received such a thunderous support. It appeared that about 90% of the priests in the meeting were all in support of the demand for the administrator to vacate his office. The proponents of the administrator’s removal far outnumbered those who held other views on the issue by nearly one hundred to one. People were very angry and could hardly hide the fact that they were set to procure the resignation of the administrator by whatever means they deemed possible.

I observed the raucous situation from my seat on the front row. I watched as the venom from priests was descending on the administrator like destructive missiles. Many people were of the opinion that the administrator with his announcement in the Cathedral had become a double agent representing the priests of the diocese and the unpopular bishop appointed for Ahiara Diocese. In fact, priests, young and old, began to throw insults on the administrator calling him all sorts of names including saboteur and a weasel. As I looked at the administrator, it appeared to me that he had begun to gasp for breath because of the overwhelming nature of the accusations that were being hurled at him.

In a split second, I began to question myself whether I should jump in on the side of the administrator to help arrest the situation which was showing the potential of resulting in a heart attack or mental breakdown for either the administrator or some of those shooting verbal missiles at him. But something in me advised me to let the sleeping dog lie for a moment. Meanwhile, the uproar continued on the alleged betrayal of the Ahiara Diocesan cause by the administrator. It appeared to me that I needed to do something to prevent the meeting from degenerating into an unmanageable commotion or fisticuffs.

After watching the drama for a while, I shot up my hand. And the administrator immediately recognized me to speak. I had two points in my mind to make. But I began by telling the priests that I would not support forcing the administrator to resign. I told them that his position was unenviable because it was his job to stand in the gap between the Vatican, the bishops of the province and the CBCN on the one side and the rioting priests of Ahiara Diocese on the other. I told the priests that the administrator must remain neutral and be readily available as the window through which a channel of dialogue and communication could be maintained between the priests of the diocese and the Vatican and the bishops of Nigeria as the battle unfolded.

But immediately I made my first point, the priests began to boo me. I was shocked. Many of them started calling me saboteur. Some reminded me that I had not signed the original petition that was sent to Rome some two weeks earlier. And this was true. In fact, I had not signed that petition partly because I was not present when it was being signed. I had not gone to Holy Ghost Parish Omega Obizi for the priestly recollection where the document had been signed. I had left early that Wednesday morning to Owerri to continue work on my priestly Silver Jubilee brochure.

Both the Provincial Centenary Celebration and the crisis in the diocese had resulted in my starting quite late to prepare for my Silver Jubilee celebration on December 28. As the time approached fast, I decided to push every other thing by the side so as to concentrate on getting all my Silver Jubilee publications ready for my celebration. And that had prevented me from attending the priestly recollection at Omega Obizi where the petition had been signed and packaged for delivery to Rome.

Moreover, I had not been keen to sign the document because the three people I had had discussion with on how the diocese could express her objection to the appointment of Msgr. Okpalaeke had not heeded to my final advice that priests should not sign and deliver any petitions on the matter. They had cast aside my advice that only the lay people should express their disappointment over the appointment of Msgr. Okpalaeke as bishop-elect of the diocese. So, when the priests started booing me and calling me all sorts of name, I understood their reason. But I stood still on my feet waiting for the uproar to quieten down.

After a prolonged jingle of the bell by the administrator, the meeting calmed down and made way for me to introduce my second point on the matter. And that I did by telling them that the battle had been joined and there was no longer any room for the diocese to withdraw from the fight. I told them that I would have preferred a situation in which we chose other means to vent our anger on the potential bishopric of Msgr. Okpalaeke. But since a diocesan petition on the matter had reached Rome, there was no way we could withdraw from the battle without making a mess of ourselves as priests of first class integrity. I told them that we had only one choice and that was to fight on until justice was done.

Immediately I made my second point, there was wild jubilation in the hall. Before I knew it people began to throw money on me. I saw my whole body being plastered all round with currency notes. I could not understand how I had transformed from being a booed villain a few moments earlier to that of a hero. People almost immediately began making positive remarks about me. They said that I had spoken the mind of all, and that my position on the matter was the final one that must be followed by everybody in the diocese.

On the vexed issue of whether the administrator should resign his position, I told them that doing so would amount to opening up several battlefields at the same time. And that would mean revealing our soft underbelly for our adversaries to exploit. I told the priests that for the sake of the major battle we had engaged ourselves we must refrain from opening up several other battlefronts which our opponents could exploit to undermine our ability to focus. This would also end up being an argument people accepted as valid. From thence, the argument became how to focus ourselves properly on reversing the appointment of Msgr. Peter Okpalaeke as the bishop of our diocese.

However, before the meeting would break up for that day, the three priests spearheading the revolt suggested that a new body of Ahiara Diocesan priests would have to be put in place to take over the running of the struggle. The meeting came to an agreement that a platform different from the official Presbyterium of Ahiara Diocese would have to be established to prosecute the struggle on behalf of the priests and laity of the diocese. It was also agreed that such a body would have the right to convene meetings of Ahiara Diocesan priests different from the recognized Presbyterium led by the administrator. The reason behind all that was that with the position of the administrator not quite clear to the priests at that time, it became impossible and unreasonable to rely on him to convene strategy meetings that would be needed from time to time to prosecute the struggle.

The priests agreed that Ahiara Diocesan Priests Association, which is a branch of the Nigerian Diocesan Priests Association and Anambra-Imo-Abia-Enugu-Ebonyi Diocesan Priests Association [ANIMAEE], would have to be reformed immediately and used as a platform to execute the fight ahead. This became necessary especially as the official leader of the Association, Fr Anthony Osuagwu, had gone to America and was not expected to return home any time soon.

As a result of the popularity of the motion, two priests were nominated to contest for the post of the president of the new Ahiara Diocesan Priests Association. They were Fr Gerard Mary Akamnnamdi Anyanwu and Fr. Austin Bernadine Ekechukwu. The latter easily won and was declared president of the association. Other members elected in that meeting were, Fr Dominic Ekweariri – secretary, and Fr Fidelis Agwulonu as vice-president. With the new organization established the new officers were charged with the management of the struggle against the appointment of Msgr. Okpalaeke as the bishop-elect of Ahiara Diocese.

The meeting of that day would break up on that note. Everybody left for home believing that a major crisis that would have thwarted our efforts on the bishopric crisis had been averted. It would be on that note that the Christmas festivities would be celebrated. It would be celebrated in a situation of calm that ominously portended a major crisis on the horizon of Ahiara Diocese.

To be continued...