Mbaka Under Fire!

Firecrackers set off by fiery priest of the Catholic Church and Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Rev Father Ejike Mbaka, in his remarks at the formal handover ceremony of the parish, where he presided for over a decade to another priest, following his trans­fer to a different parish, are still ex­ploding, and building an expanding shockwave of conflicting opinions across Igboland and elsewhere.

On that eventful day, Rev Fr Mba­ka who will be under another priest, lamented that his transfer to the new parish would unleash a period of suffering given that he was moving from a duplex to a small one-room apartment. He recalled his great toil to raise millions of naira to build massive structures, which housed the assets of the Adoration Ministry. A huge amount of the funds raised by him over the years were also committed to enormous charity works that saw him sponsoring the education of countless number of young boys and girls, as well as orphans from primary school to uni­versity level. He also built houses for widows and was even said to have bought cars for several other priests to support them in the ministry of the gospel.

The dust raised by the emotional remarks Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka made while handing over the parish he worked hard to develop and expand over a period of 20 years, has continued to swirl and grow on the perceived controversial transfer.

Mbaka indicated that his descent from the Olympian height of living in the ‘luxury’ of a duplex, built under his watch as parish priest, to the punitive measure implied by his moving to a small one-room apart­ment in the new parish, to be under another priest, represents for him an introduction to suffering. Even more agonizing for the fiery priest, who many perceive as “controversial” is the enormous burden of finding space to store and preserve the assets of the Adoration Ministry, which he heads as director. It was against this background that he lamented over his transfer and set off firecrackers that rankled several Catholic, An­glican, Pentecostal clerics and other non-clergy.

From Ebonyi State, Pastor Freeman Nwonu of the New Life Foundation Church, Abakaliki, fired a salvo and said that there was no big deal in transferring Mbaka from his former parish to another, arguing that the administrative action of the Catholic bishop should not have warranted the statements made by the fiery priest.

He said transfer is part of the routine checks on men of God by their superiors, which, he said, are aimed at bringing the gospel to the hinterlands, adding: “Fr. Mbaka to the best of my knowledge has been in Christ the King Church, GRA, Enugu for many years and I believed it was the right time to move.”

He spoke further: “I am not dabbling into his prophecies and life­style, every man of God has his or her own distinct lifestyle and Mbaka is no exception, so, if he decides to dabble into politics that is his own business. My only concern is that his transfer should not have generated any controversy at all because he is also a priest and there is no sacred cow.”

“I am not a Catholic but I believe the Bishop of Enugu Diocese has been very tolerant of him unlike other bishops that will even help to put off the fire of the Holy Spirit in him.”

Rev Fr Ben Ogu of Ahiara Mbaise Catholic Diocese, echoing the view of Pastor Nwonu, said that there was nothing punitive about Mbaka’s transfer because the posting of any priest in the Catholic Church is the prerogative and exclusive right of the bishop of that diocese.

“I have nothing against his politi­cal statements or prophecy because anybody can make political state­ments, provided he is not sentimen­tally and sensationally defending the evil leaders of this country against the suffering, oppressed, alienated and marginalised South-South and South-East and the entire Nigerian common citizens. The transfer of any priest is between him and his bishop and does not need our attention because nobody is above transfer,” Ogu said.

Expressing similar view, Director of Communication, Egbu Anglican Diocese, Imo State, George Best Okoroh, said: “Every priest is under canonical oaths which should guide them in all they do. In the case of Rev Mbaka, his transfer is by provi­dence. No matter what people say or try to interprete the motives behind the transfer, if God did not approve of it , it would not have materialised. If one appreciated the fact that Rev. Mbaka, not minding his dabbling in to the murky field of politics, still remains an anointed man of God and priest to minister and prepare mankind to see the glory of God.

“He must have made very good impact in his old parish, including his Adoration Ministry, and would no doubt impact well in his new sta­tion, for what is good for Congrega­tion ‘A’ must be good for ‘B.’ Let the diocese and the new congregation grant him an even playing ground to serve God. Let him diminish while God increases in him. That’s my prayer for this priest of God.

“The present Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Egbu, Rt. Rev Geoffrey Okoroafor was the Vicar and Archdeacon of Okpala for nine years. He remained there all these years because the then Bishop appre­ciated his efforts at building church within the precept of the canonical responsibilities. The transfer of Mbaka should not be politicized.”

Mbaka got more tackles from Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, spiritual head of the Igbo, who pointedly said: “Mbaka should stop whipping up unnecessary sentiment and stop embarrassing the Catholic Church. His post­ing is normal and not punitive. It is like every other posting of a Catholic priest which is done on regular basis. He should stop playing politics and face his priesthood which he was ordained for.

Every priest is under the control of the church and Fr. Mbaka cannot be an island. Like a masquerade, one should move around to watch it, so Fr. Mbaka cannot be static in a place. I advise him to stop partisan politics and leave politics for politicians. It is not his duty to say who wins or who will not win any election. His is going beyond the bounds of a priest and playing politics. He should remem­ber that he took an oath of chastity, poverty and obedience which he is going against by his pronouncement and complaints.

Vicar General of the Catholic Church of the East, Rev, Fr Modestus Chilaka advised Mbaka to respect the decision of his bishop and refrain from viewing his transfer as punishment. He added: “Every priest is a missionary and there must be a purpose for God to permit his transfer. Whether he is going to be under another priest in his new parish is immaterial because the will of God must be done. So, those who are giving his transfer a wrong interpretation don’t really know how the spirit of God works.

Administrator of the Madonna Catholic Hospital, Umuahia, Abia State, Rev. Fr Christian Anokwuru said: “For me any day a priest is transferred to any particular parish or given any assignment, that is also the day he has ended that assignment. It is something he has started and ended, because he could be transferred from that particular day he was given that assignment to another place according to the discretion of the Bishop. For him to have stayed for 20 years in one parish is an act of pure grace, which is the more reason he should be thankful to the Bishop for allowing him to stay that long.T he fact that he said that he was going to suffer in his new parish is not negative, suffering here is part and parcel of this ministry, suffering in the worldly sense is not negative for  us, the priest; it is part of identifying with the suffering ministry of Jesus Christ, it is not negative. the worldly sense is not negative for

“For instance, in his new place of duty, he has limited space where he can store the ministry’s proper­ty which does not belong to him, anyway; that is a kind of suffering because he is going to face the fact of trying to create the space for all those property and it is part of suffer­ing, it is not negative at all.

“If the Bishop had wanted to punish Fr Mbaka for his political utterances, he had various ways of doing it, not just by transferring him, transferring him has nothing to do with punitive measures, because if you transfer him as part of punitive measure, does it stop him from making political utterances?”

A former top government offi­cial in Anambra State and a knight of the Catholic Church who plead­ed anonymity expressed sadness that Fr. Mbaka made an ordinary routine transfer of priests an issue for public discourse, warning that he should refrain from politicizing everything.

“It is a pity that this type of thing is happening in the church. Fr. Mba­ka is one of the priests I respect but his recent conduct is beginning to worry me. A priest is ordained by the bishop and posted to the parish of the bishop’s choice and is transferred at the bishop’s wish. Why is Fr. Mbaka’s own different? Why is he making it a media issue?

“When priests begin to hobnob with politicians at will, there is the tendency for them to begin to act and talk like the politicians. The action of Mbaka in making his transfer an issue of public discourse and his outburst is to say the least unfortu­nate and I hope he realizes himself sooner than later.

“I think this is also a lesson for our church to take another look at some unguarded privileges some priests get in the light of what is happening now and the image issue for the church. Our priests should be careful and watch it when they begin to progress because the Bible even said that pride goes before a fall.

Anglican priest, Venerable John Akahara opined that Mbaka should display canonical obedi­ence and see his transfer as a “new opportunity God has given him to shine as light in another area. Even if the congregation there is two persons or even one, they are important to God, hence the Lord sent him there. It would be arrogance and disobedience for any priest to reject posting, it is ecclesiastically wrong.”

As if to put the icing on the cake, a Pentecostal pastor who simply identified himself as Pas­tor Emma summed up Mbaka’s case this way: “He likes contro­versy and so every little thing he will like to blow it up just like the politicians do. What is the big deal in transferring a priest from one station to another? How many years was he in the former parish or was he ordained just to be a priest in that particular station?

“I think the young man should take it easy and ask God for the grace to continue to serve him with greater anointing anywhere he finds himself and not to talk of how he will suffer in the new place as if other priests who serve in similar stations are fools. It is not the right way to go.”

- Sun News