AHIARA DIOCESE IN CROSSHAIRS: THE REAL STORIES …19 [EXCERPTS FROM A BOOK IN PRINT]

Chapter 7: Another Ahiara Declaration! [i]

At the end of the Christmas celebration and the festivities marking the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of my priestly ordination at my family home on December 28, 2012, I could see the remainder of 2012 racing ominously to an end. The lull we had enjoyed since the Christmas celebration was something I did not want to see end in a hurry. The beginning of the New Year, 2013, scared the hell out of me. I suspected that all would not be well with our diocese during that coming year. As a result, I prayed and wished that the old year could linger on a little more so as to push back a little bit the doomsday scenarios the year 2013 was intent on unleashing on the people of Ahiara Diocese.

But all through the Christmas period and immediately after, rumour was rife all through Ahiara Diocese that the bishop-elect had defied the opposition mounted in the diocese and was going ahead to schedule his ordination and installation in Maria Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral Ahiara on February 9, 2013. People were claiming that Msgr. Okpalaeke had started to distribute his invitation cards to that effect. Some claimed that the cards were in the possession of the officials of the Catholic Secretariat in Abuja. Others said that the cards were being distributed to the indigenes of his home state of Anambra State.

As the news of this situation broke, tension reached sky-high all through our diocese. Everybody knew that if the news of the invitation cards’ distributions turned out to be true, serious confrontation was headed the way of our diocese. The Caucus ordered a hunt-down for any true copy or even a photocopy of the said invitation card as a prelude to making concrete plans on how to counter it. Ahiara diocesan priests were advised to fan out their tentacles all over the place to see if they could get hold of any of the invitation cards. But at the end of the day not even a copy or a photocopy of the alleged invitation card got into the hands of any priest from Ahiara Diocese that I was aware of.

But even without getting hold of any of the cards, tension over what February 9 might bring to our diocese did not subside even in the least. There continued to be fear that Awka people who were allegedly working in concert with the metropolitan archbishop of Owerri province, Archbishop Obinna, might pull a fast one on our diocese so as to have their man ordained bishop of Ahiara Diocese in our cathedral. As a result, the famed Biafran clarion call was revived: Onye ndi gbara gburugburu na-eche ndu ya nche mgbe niile. Umu Biafra, unu ehila ura [A person who is surrounded by his enemies keeps watch over his life every time. Biafrans; do not sleep].

The implication was that Awka people with their son, Msgr. Okpalaeke, and Archbishop Obinna with the bishops of the province had surrounded Mbaise people. As a result, Mbaise people must keep watch over their diocese every time. That was what began to happen around this time. The whole nook and cranny of Ahiara Diocese came under a very serious surveillance. The youths, the younger priests and in fact, everybody was asked to be on a look-out for any strange movement. The instruction was that immediately any strange movement was noticed around the cathedral or in any other church in the diocese, a distress call should be sent out for people around the place to mobilize and counter-attack the invaders pending the time reinforcements from all across Mbaise land would arrive to deal decisively with the situation. This would be the contingency plan put in place from early January 2013.

It would pain me greatly that the usual excitement of a brand new year would have to give way this time around to a lot of stress and controversy surrounding an ill-advised appointment of a bishop-elect for our diocese. This was not what I had desired for myself or for anybody in our diocese at that point in time. I was thinking that the New Year would bring us the long-sought-after joy of a new bishop, a new energy and a new beginning after the unending period we had spent mourning the sudden demise of Bishop Chikwe. Unfortunately, instead of the joy we had longed for, pain and anxiety were heading our way. Although everybody in the diocese appeared to put up a brave face which was sprinkled with momentary smiles, the fact was that in the heart of every priest and lay faithful in the diocese there was an ocean of sadness that refused to clear up as the New Year marched on.

I did not know who to blame for what had happened to our beloved diocese. Should I blame the priests and the lay people of our diocese who were being accused of having destroyed their chances of having one of their own appointed their bishop through malicious petition writing? Or, should I blame the manipulative hands from abroad that had constituted themselves into a mafia and a new ruling class in the Igbo Church by installing their relatives and cronies as bishops and rulers in various dioceses of Igboland?

On the other hand, should I join the chorus of Ahiara diocesan priests who had become quite vociferous blaming the metropolitan and the bishops of Owerri Province for not doing enough to protect the Episcopal See of Ahiara Diocese from the long hands of Anambra poachers? Or, should I blame the Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Augustine Kasujja, for not living up to his promises to give the people of Ahiara Diocese a bishop like the late Bishop Chikwe? The blameable fronts were just too numerous to count. I did not know where to begin to allot the blames.

On a personal level, I was very scared of joining a seemingly unwinnable battle against the appointment of a bishop for our diocese. At that point in time, I did not see any way we would come out a winner in that struggle. Moreover, I kept struggling with the dictum, Roma locuta, causa finita est – Rome has spoken, case is finished. Traditionally, in the Catholic Church, I had argued to myself that any case that was said to have been decided by the Holy Father did not allow any further room for an appeal. If the pope made a pronouncement or an appointment, it was said to be final and over with. I had asked myself; would the case of Ahiara Diocese be different? Do we have the muscle and the reach to force a change on a papal decision that was already done and dusted? I was absolutely sceptical that we had any chances to bring about a change to our misfortune. Some part of my heart kept telling me that Ahiara Diocese was completely doomed by the appointment of Msgr. Okpalaeke as her bishop.

However, the problem for me remained how to deal with the dangerous dilemma that had been created in Ahiara Diocese, which has unfortunately brought a monumental conflict in the minds and faith of the priests and lay people. How could we maintain our loyalty to the Pope and the Catholic Church and still go ahead to challenge an obvious injustice that if left unchallenged would end up threatening and perhaps destroying the great Catholic faith of the Mbaise people? How could we have the young Msgr. Okpalaeke as the bishop of Ahiara Diocese in the face of all the questions swirling around his appointment and his personal life? Will our beloved diocese survive this unnecessary crisis it had been forced into by a not-well-advised Holy See? This was a very hard nut for me to crack.

All such questions had been coming down heavy on me right from the very first day the announcement was made. I remember, after discussing with the original three priests that had begun the protest on Saturday, December 8, 2012, and having failed to convince them to adopt a different method to convey to the powers-that-be and the world at large our collective feelings of disappointment on the appointment of Msgr. Okpalaeke as our bishop-elect, I had made up my mind to see if there was any way I could relocate from Ahiara Diocese even if for a little while. I wanted to go away from the diocese to avoid being sucked into the crisis that would necessarily come as a result of the rejection of the bishop-elect.

I had thought of heading back to America. But I had no immediate plans of where to live and what to do in the place. Moreover, I was not sure our diocesan administrator would grant me a permission to do that. Most important, I knew the priests of the diocese would not take kindly to such a move by me. They would know immediately that a person of my own stature was bailing out from his people at the time of their greatest need. But notwithstanding all that, I had told myself that it was time for me to move. The only problem was that I did not know where to move to. I was so confused on how to handle the new situation in our diocese.

However, the overall inclination of my mind was to steer clear of the ugly battle that was looming because of the rejection of the bishop-elect. My problem was that I did not know how to fight in moderation. I felt that if I allowed myself to be sucked into the fight it would become personal to me. I did not want to make a diocesan matter a personal matter for myself. I feared that it would bear some dangerous consequences for me when the dust settled after the battle.

Moreover, in my life, I always fight to win. Winning for me was not everything but the only thing, according to Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers fame. I was convinced that if I entered the battle against the appointment, I would make it a zero-sum game for myself. I would either win or lose myself completely in the process. If I got into the battle, I would not know how to get out of it again. That was my fear. Could I afford such a risk in a battle that did not hold much prospect for success? I had wondered.

Since I did not see any way we could win any battles against the almighty Catholic Church and the Pope, I was very much afraid of embracing the fight immediately. So, the only option I had was to find a way to get myself out of Ahiara Diocese even if for a few months especially during the hottest months the New Year would usher into the diocese.

It was this decision of mine that would push me to seek an audience with Archbishop Obinna immediately the appointment was made public on December 7, 2012. Fortunately for me, a meeting for Imo State Pilgrims Welfare Board which I was a member had been scheduled for Monday, December 10, 2012, at Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu Centre in New Owerri. I had planned that after the Pilgrims Welfare Board meeting I would try to visit Villa Assumpta to deliver an invitation card for my Silver Jubilee celebration to His Grace, Archbishop AJV Obinna, as well as to see if I could have a brief audience with him.

Since 2008, when I began working closely with Archbishop Obinna on the committee preparing for the celebration of the provincial centenary 2012, I had gained more confidence in approaching him for issues that were important to me. This was because he had demonstrated to me over and over again that he was a man of great wisdom. And working with His Grace those several years, I had become quite appreciative of his simplicity, humility and deep wisdom and spirituality. I believed he meant well in almost every situation. He did not harbour any grudges against anybody that I could see. I had grown in appreciation of his ways and was comfortable relating to him on a personal level.

So, as this dangerous situation broke out in our diocese, I was eager to find out what he thought about it all. So, I decided to use the occasion of our Pilgrims Welfare Board meeting in Owerri on that Monday, three days after the announcement of our bishop-elect, to put forward my request to him. I had planned to ask him if he could help me get an employment as a lecturer at Veritas University, Obehie, in which he had been recently appointed pro-chancellor by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria [CBCN]. Moreover, the new rector of Seat of Wisdom Seminary was asking me to take up a part-time teaching appointment on New Testament studies with the seminary. I wanted to see what the archbishop would say about all that. I was convinced that if I could engage myself with serious teaching in a university in 2013, I would be able to evade the wrath that was about to consume our diocese as a result of the bishopric crisis.

Our Pilgrims Welfare Board meeting would end around 1:30 P.M. on that Monday of December 10, 2012. As I drove into Villa Assumpta that afternoon, I was not sure I would meet anybody to help me see His Grace. I believed that he and his assistants would all be either at lunch or taking their siesta. So, when I got in there, there was nobody I could talk to immediately. As a result, I would linger on a little bit in my car with a few copies of my Silver Jubilee invitation cards in my hand. When I asked a receptionist if I could see His Grace, I was told that he had either gone in for his siesta or was at lunch. As I did not want to get-crash into His Grace’s lunch table, I chose to hang around a little bit more.

In a moment, I sighted a senior priest heading to the residence of the archbishop. He was Fr. Celestine, a priest of the Archdiocese of Owerri living in the USA. I ran up to him for inquiry on how to get to the archbishop. He told me that he had an appointment with him and that was the reason why he would be heading to his house at that very hour. I asked him if he could take my invitation cards along and bring them to His Grace. I also asked him to tell His Grace that I would have loved to see him but would try to repeat another time since it was already late.

With my silver jubilee invitation card well on its way to Archbishop Obinna, I drove off to return to my parish in Ihitteafoukwu, Ahiazu-Mbaise. As I was trying to navigate the heavy traffic jam of Owerri metropolis, my phone rang. At the other end of the phone was His Grace, Archbishop AJV Obinna. He invited me back to come and meet with him since he was still at his lunch table. I was very happy to hear that. I turned around and started off to his house once again.

As we sat in one of his living rooms downstairs, I could notice that His Grace appeared to be out of sorts. His countenance was pale. He was obviously sick. He spoke sparingly and slowly. His Grace would start by apologizing for the inconvenience I had suffered in trying to see. He said that he had asked his assistants to restrict people from coming to see him as he was terribly indisposed. But when he saw my silver jubilee invitation card, he decided to make an exception for me to meet with him. I was quite grateful for his gesture and wished him a speedy recovery.

Having made myself comfortable, I told His Grace that I was scared to death by the crisis that was breaking out in our diocese as a result of the controversial bishopric appointment. I tried to report to him in graphic details of what was about to happen to Ahiara Diocese. I informed him that the announcement of Msgr. Okpalaeke as the bishop-elect of the diocese would necessarily bring the diocese into a tragic head-on-collision with the Pope and the universal Church. I told His Grace that in view of our people’s experience of enormous peace and joy during the reign of Bishop Chikwe, and with their personal knowledge of what was going on in the neighbouring dioceses of Aba and Okigwe where Anambra State bishops were holding forth, there was no way they would accept Msgr. Okpalaeke as their bishop.

On hearing my expression of a grave concern about the situation in Ahiara Diocese, His Grace, Archbishop Obinna, opened up to me. He told me that he had been heart-stricken since the announcement of the bishop-elect of Ahiara Diocese was made by the Holy Father. He told me that he feared greatly that the people of Mbaise would not forgive him as they would think that he was the one that prevented one of their sons from being appointed their bishop.

Archbishop Obinna would come close to tears in my presence, as he almost swore that as the metropolitan of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, he did everything that was humanly possible to ensure that Ahiara Diocese got a bishop from among their priests. But he regretted that at the end of the day, something else happened. He told me that he did not have the strength to stand before the people of Mbaise to explain to them what had happened because he himself did not know what had happened in the process that resulted in the appointment of the current bishop-elect of Ahiara Diocese.

As I watched Archbishop Obinna express some deep sadness over what had happened to Ahiara Diocese, I was devastated. I told myself that if the metropolitan of one of the most populous provinces in the continent of Africa could be so blindsided in the appointment of a suffragan bishop in his province, there was no hope for Ahiara Diocese to challenge the powers behind the appointment of Msgr. Okpalaeke. That realization would give me the energy to charge ahead and put my request before His Grace.

I asked His Grace if he could help me find a place of sanctuary so that I would avoid getting plunged into the catastrophe that was about to swallow up our diocese. I told him that the rejection of Msgr. Okpalaeke as bishop-elect of Ahiara Diocese would become much uglier than anybody could imagine at that moment; and as a result, I did not want to be a part of the dirty fight that would follow in the New Year. I informed His Grace that I would have interest in being employed as one of the lecturers at Veritas Catholic University where he had been made the pro-chancellor, or, in an alternative, getting a full-time teaching position and not just as a part-time teacher at Seat of Wisdom Seminary, as the rector of the institution had requested. I told him that all I wanted was a way to run away from the wrath that was about to consume our diocese.

Archbishop Obinna looked at me and sighed. He said that he understood why I would be thinking that way. He confessed to me that he did not know when and how what was beginning to build up in Ahiara Diocese would end. However, Archbishop Obinna told me that instead of helping me to get into Veritas University, Obehie, he would rather encourage me to apply to replace Fr Ralph Madu who had moved up from his former position as Director of Communications at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria Abuja [CSN] to become the secretariat’s Secretary General. I asked His Grace whether I was qualified to apply for such a position. He told me that I was more than qualified to be appointed into such a position. He promised to call on Fr Ralph to send me information on how to go about applying for the position. And with that, our brief discussion ended.