By Charly Agwam
The Catholic Church, Enugu diocese has dissociated itself from Father Mbaka after he called Labour party’s presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi ‘stingy’ because he refused to donate to his church with public funds.
In a letter titled ‘RE: INFLAMMATORY POLITICAL UTTERANCES BY FR. CAMILLUS EJIKE MBAKA‘ and shared online, the leaders of the church said that Mbaka’s comment was inflammatory and able to cause disaffection among citizens.
“The attention of the Diocesan Bishop, Most Rev. Callistus V.C. Onaga, and the Catholic Diocese of Enugu has been drawn to the inflammatory political utterances by Rev. Fr. Camillus Ejike Mbaka, the Director of Catholic Adoration Ministry Chaplaincy Enugu, on Wednesday 15 June 2022 during his Wednesday Adoration Programme.
“Fr. Mhaka during his preaching attacked the good reputation of Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party Presidential Candidate describing him as “a stingy man” and as “a joker”, contrary to canon 220 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law which prohibits anyone from illegitimately harming the good name of a person He also made fun of the Labour Party and vowed that Mr. Obi could not be the president of Nigeria. This is a clear violation of the provisions of canon 287 $2 which forbids priests from engaging in partisan politics.
“The Catholic Diocese of Enugu hereby condemns and dissociates herself from such unbecoming and divisive utterances from Fr. Mbaka. We notify the general public that Fr. Mbaka’s views on the matter are entirely personal to him and do not represent the position of the Catholic Diocese of Enugu. In an effort to keep him united to the Body of Christ, we enjoin him to refrain from making further provocative prophecies or utterances capable of heating up the polity. We assure the people of God and the general public that the Catholic Diocese of Emagu is taking the due canonical process
“Finally, we urge all the People of God to continue to pray for peaceful elections and to discharge their civic responsibilities by getting their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) and casting their votes in order to elect the right candidates,” the statement reads.
See attached picture courtesy Bestof9ja news