The Catholic Bishop of Enugu, Most Rev. Callistus Onaga has directed Fr. Ejike Mbaka to formally write an apology letter to the former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi for the embarrassing episode the priest created during a church bazaar sale.
The Bishop made his directive known during the weekend at a diaconate ordination mass celebrated at the Holy Ghost Cathedral, Enugu. He explained that the earlier apology offered by Mbaka was unacceptable as it did not comply with what the Bishops had directed him to do.
“Before we met Mbaka, he had already apologised to Obi but when we listened to the apology, we realized it was no apology but apologetics, so we mandated him to do a written apology to Obi which he agreed to do and actually did it in our presence.
“He was remorseful and regretted his action. We believe he would do the needful by sending across the written apology.
“I urge you all to pray for Fr. Ejike Mbaka. This man has added value to the church through his work. I have on several occasions told him that he is gifted but we must not allow anybody railroad us into disobeying the directives of the church. I therefore urge you all to pray for him so that the church can maximize his gift to the glory of God.
“I have heard such cases in some community where the contention was that the priest said that a certain person or the other should be the traditional ruler of a community and the community was in crisis. This is beyond your mandate as priest. Priests are not king makers, just preach and pray for them and let the counties run their affairs. In the same way, we should also allow politicians to play their politics and steer clear from the endorsements of candidates. Nigeria operates a democracy and not theocracy. We must therefore be mindful to preserve the integrity of the Catholic Church.”
