[JUST IN] Holy Ghost Fathers vs Nnewi Catholic Diocese: Why the Spiritan priests should step aside — Diocesan official

THE feud between the Holy Ghost Fathers at St Martin of Tours parish, Ihiala in

Anambra State and Nnewi Catholic Diocese has taken a new dimension with the Bishop of the Diocese, Most Reverend Jonas Benson Okoye asking the five resident Holy Ghost Fathers in the parish to step aside. He has already pencilled down his Diocesan priests that would take over the parish.

Giving reasons for the latest development, the Episcopal Vicar of Ozubulu Region, Rev Fr. Hyginus Aghaulo said the amended Canon Law empowers the Bishop to take action when such issues arise.

Aghaulo said: “The Spiritan Fathers claim that the late Archbishop Charles Heerey gave it to them in 1967. That was under 1917 Code, but Canon 6 of 1983 Code abrogated 1917 Code. Unless such a matter was renewed in the 1983 Code, there is nothing they can rely on to insist on being owners of the church.

“The land where the church was built was given to Nnewi Diocese by the owners. Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital was also built by the Diocese which was then part of Onitsha Archdiocese. It was just that the then Archbishop of Onitsha, Charles Heery, was a Spiritan priest, but he built it in the name of the Diocese.

“The Holy Rosary Sisters were given the hospital to manage and it was later transferred to the Immaculate Heart Sisters. Now that the Diocese has enough manpower, it decided to manage it on its own.

“The Holy Ghost Fathers are missionary priests because they go from place to place, unlike the Circular priests who belong to the Diocese.

“The Bishop, as a competent authority, can take over any property within the Diocese. As it stands, Bishop Jonas Benson Okoye is the competent authority. What the Bishop has done is to relieve the Spiritan priests of their administrative functions and not that they are being sent away as some people claim. They are still in the Diocese because they have the Spiritan Farms at Okija and the Holy Ghost Juniorate, Ihiala to manage.

“Besides, they are not the only congregation that were relieved of their positions. The Missionaries Society of St Paul, MSP, were also relieved of their duties in the Diocese and they left because they understand what the law says. The bishop felt that having served the parish for a long time, the Spiritan priests should be relieved of their positions.”

In what appeared to be the main reason for asking the Holy Ghost Fathers to step aside from the parish, Aghaulo added: “The Bishop wanted to carve out a parish out of St Martin of Tours Church and posted his priest there, but the Holy Ghost Fathers frustrated him.

He added: “We have 413 priests in Nnewi Diocese and they need to work in the parishes and that is why the Bishop wants to create new ones. There was an incident that probably shocked the bishop and that was when the Spiritan Fathers locked up an outstation when a priest went to celebrate Mass there. That was the height of insurbodination”.

The Diocese also frowned at what it called the indifference shown by the Holy Ghost Fathers on the issue of land dispute between the Diocese and the land donors. “ He said further: “We agreed with the land owners that we should pay them some money and while the Diocese agreed to pay the large chunk and for the Holy Ghost Fathers to contribute a little, they said they would not pay anything. That was the issue that made the Bishop to ask them to stay aside so that someone he can trust could effectively negotiate with the people concerned.

“The decision for them to step aside was unanimously taken by the leadership of the Diocese as the Bishop cannot act alone. The priests in the Diocese and the Catholic Women Organization, CWO, of St Martin of Tours parish are in support of the action taken by the Diocese.

“What the Spiritan Fathers should understand is that someone sent them there and that person has decided to relieve them of their positions as of now. “The reason they were allowed to stay there in the first place was to assist the Diocese in resolving that issue of land and when it was discovered that they were part of the problem, they were asked to step aside.

“The 1983 Code is very clear. The Code gives the discretion and right of free conferral on diocesan bishops and those equivalent to them in law in line with canons. 368 and 381, in the spiritual task of appointing pastors. Thus, the diocesan Bishop can freely appoint and freely fire. He can freely create and freely suppress parishes without recourse to existing customs, grants and centennial or immemorial bequests and grants.

“Therefore, no parish is in the exclusive list from the purview and governance of the diocesan bishop. Religious institutes, such as the Holy Ghost Fathers, by virtue of the nature of their work, are not distinctively and naturally destined for parish administration, but for the living of evangelical counsel in their communities and convents, unlike diocesan or secular priests whose destiny and nativity is to administer parishes.

“That the religious are made pastors is a privilege and at the discretion of the bishop because of dearth of secular clergy and for missionary cooperation and therefore should not be a matter for claims. Even where they are given a parish, a written agreement must stipulate the particular personnel and confirmation of the proper pastor by the diocesan bishop. Religious institutes do not appoint pastors, but only present to the bishop and subject to the ratification and confirmation of the diocesan Bishop. Even in cases of parishes under the care of the religious, the diocesan Bishop retains his right of supervision and surveillance, especially in matters of care of souls and disciplinary laws of the diocese, as well as diocesan apostolates under their care.

“The Diocese further argued that in 1917 Code, the term “ in perpetuity” , which the Holy Ghost Fathers are relying on to hold on to the parish, is subject to the interpretation of the competent ecclesiastical authority that issued it or his successor in office.

“In this case, Bishop Jonas Benson Okoye is a successor of Archbishop Heerey and so has power to interpret or alter the perpetuity clause in such a convention because of “salvation of souls is the supreme law grand norm.

That portion of the people of God in the parochial jurisdiction of St. Martin, Ihiala is a bona fide part of Nnewi diocese under the pastoral care of Bishop Jonas Benson Okoye and so he possesses immediate, full and proper power of order and jurisdiction over it without prejudice to any extant laws or conventions.

“The term permanent in Church law means that the assignment is irrevocable until such time as the competent authority or one’s successor determines otherwise. Hence, perpetuity is determined by the will of the competent superior. The bishop, in this case, is the competent superior.

“The decision to relieve the Spiritans of the said parish and others was predicated on pastoral necessities and administrative adjustments, with a view to achieving the common good of the people of God and the salvation of souls, which is the supreme law. It was made urgent by two major reasons, the instigation of the local people by the Spiritans to resist the creation of a new parish for St. Martin of Tours Parish, Ihiala, as well as their uncooperative attitude in the land dispute between the Church and her landlords.

“Hence, the bishop has to place in the parish, diocesan priests who are directly responsible to him and who shall cooperate with him towards resolving the land dispute and creating further parishes from St. Martin of Tours Parish if need be”.

A statement from the office of the Chancellor of the Diocese also said the decision to relieve them of the parish was properly communicated to them and considered with their relevant Superior, in accordance with the relevant laws and procedure and was not wanting in charity.

The decision was communicated to Rev Fr. Gregory Olikaenyi, the immediate past Provincial Superior of the Spiritan Fathers on the 24th May, 2022 at a meeting with the Bishop at his residence in Adazi-Nnukwu. “At that meeting the bishop and the superior brainstormed on the matter. It was further communicated with a formal letter dated the 4th August, 2022.

“The current misinformation are to deceive the gullible and needed to be challenged.

For instance, the allegation that the bishop has sacked the Spiritans from the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi cannot be true as they are still in the diocese.”