Christian body asks Bishop of Enugu to caution Father Mbaka

The Catholic secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) has expressed concern over the “excesses” of popular Enugu-based Catholic priest, Ejike Mbaka, whose recent comments on the 2015 general elections have continued to generate controversy.

Rev. Fr. Mbaka in his message on New Year day openly criticised President Goodluck Jonathan, asking him to resign from office.

The secretary-general of CSN, Ralph Madu, speaking on behalf of the association in an interview with Punch newspapers in Abuja, called on the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Callistus Onaga, to caution the priest,

Rev. Fr. Madu added that Mbaka's comments concerning the President and the forthcoming general elections were his personal opinion and not that of the Catholic church.

The secretary-general of CSN 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.”On the issue of what the Catholic Church says about visions and prophecies and whether the priest has not been deviating from the Catholic dogma, Rev. Fr. Madu said there were more reasonable methods 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.”