In a show of Shame Mbaise Youths Lock Out Catholic Bishop-elect

The youths of Ahiara community in Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State yesterday locked the Catholic Cathedral to protest the ordination of Monsignor Peter Okpalaeke as the Bishop of Ahiara Diocese.

Okpalaeke, who is from Anambra State, was appointed bishop-elect of the diocese by former Pope Benedict XVI last December after the death of the pioneer bishop of the diocese, Victor Chikwe.

But while ordination was going on, the priests and Catholic faithful including the youths from the diocese, who preferred an indigene of Mbaise as bishop of the diocese, said the bishop-elect would not be allowed in the diocese.

The youths, who took over the church, locked up the entrance gate to the cathedral where the newly ordained bishop was to begin his 10- year tenure as the bishop of Ahiara Diocese.

The protesters, who disrupted vehicular and human movement in the area, vowed not to allow the bishop access into the cathedral, insisting that the diocese would remain without a bishop for the next 10 years. Some of protesters told journalists that “we will not allow this injustice. We don’t want the bishop who is not from our community.

That is all we are saying and we are ready to fight to finish”. Despite the protesters’ threat, Pope Francis directed Catholic authorities yesterday to ordain the bishopelect.

The ordination, which was carried out amid tight security at the Seat of Wisdom Seminary in Ulakwo in Owerri North Local Government Area, was held several miles away from the Ahiara Diocese.

This, according to a source, was to prevent the breakdown of law and order. However, many Catholic faithful and other dignitaries within and outside the country, including John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the archbishop of Abuja, attended the ordination. In his sermon, the Catholic Bishop of Umuahia Archdiocese, Lucius Ugorji, said: “Only the Pope has the final say in the appointment of bishops.

There is no provision for quota system in the appointment of bishops.” According to him, the acceptance of the appointment is a respect for the Pope, while rejection, inflammatory statements and protests are spiteful and disrespectful to the Papal authority. Ugorji urged the people to work with the new bishop for the progress of the diocese.