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.
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 organised 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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