By amaechi kingsley
The last may not have been heard on the dispute between the people of Ahiara and Bishop Okpeleke for an indigenous Bishop at the Diocese as Ahiara Diocesan Priests and Laity have advised parishioners and Catholic faithful to debunk any document given to them to sign in support for the installation of Most Rev. Peter Okpaleke because it is being used by Okpaleke supporters to divide the Mbaise Nation and as a business enterprise.
Disclosing this during a Mass Service held at Saint Bridges Catholic Church Nnarambiam recently, after a Rosary Prayer possession and Benediction, Chairman of the Laity Council Chief Gerald Anyanwu revealed that the document going round the Diocese was to gain a large number of Catholic supporters for Bishop Peter Okpaleke against the demand of Ahiara people.
Chief Anyanwu Gerald who confirmed that the Bishop crisis had been ongoing for a while before his attention was drawn to it, disclosed that peddlers of the document are meant to deliver 14 signatories on each document.
Rt. Rev. Theodore Nwalo who spoke during the Mass recalled Ahiara Diocese as a reference point during the Civil war that led to the Ahiara Declaration, and charged Catholic faithful in Ahiara Diocese to embrace peace, adding that signs of a better future for the Diocese are bright.
Speaking to Newsmen, the President of Ahiara Diocesan Priest Association and Parish Priest of Saint Joseph Parish Otulu in Ahiazu Mbaise, Rev. Fr. Austin Ekechukwu, stated that the people of Ahiara Diocese will continue to reject the imposition of Bishop Okpaleke on them, he noted that Bishop Okpaleke has been impeded haven being unable to take charge of the Diocese after 4months and following facts that lead to his consecration as Bishop in Ulakwo on the 20th of May 2013, which originally disqualified him as Bishop Of Ahiara Diocese.
In their separate interviews, Parish Priest of Saint Gregory Parish Ihitte Aforukwu, Rev. Fr. David Iheanacho and the Parish Priest of Saint Domic Parish, Onitsh Ezinihitte East, Rev. Fr. Joseph Ohaekelemezeji, displayed a 14colum, 3row document titled; “REPRESENTATIVES OF CONCERNED LAY CATHOLICS OF AHIARA DIOCESE PETITIONING FOR IMMEDIATE INSTALLATION OF MOST REVEREND PETER E OKPALEKE, BISHOP OF AHIARA” stating that Okpaleke supporters perpetuating this act are only causing disunity amongst the people of Mbaise, they added that the unholy nature of the crisis have extended its ugly head to Seminarians and members of the Laity as they have been deprived of the right to ordination, First holy Communion, Confirmation and other Pastoral/Sacramental function of a Bishop in the Diocese.
They also advised the Bishop Council of Nigeria to apply same wisdom used to resolve the first case of a Bishop resistance in Enugu on Ahiara Diocese for the steady growth of the Church.
