The Catholic Church on Monday, February 1, explained why it recently transferred, prominent Catholic cleric, Reverend father Ejike Mbaka, of the Enugu-based Adoration Ministry.
According to the church, Mbaka’s transfer was not politically motivated as some people alleged.
Reverend Father Ralph Madu, the secretary-general of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, disclosed this in an interview with Premium Times.
He said transfer of priests within the Catholic Church is a “normal church procedure.”
The cleric said: “Mbaka’s own is not an exception. The Bishop has the right to post any priest wherever he feels his service would be more useful to the church.”
The South-East zone of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that Bishop Callistus Onaga was manipulated by external forces into effecting Mbaka’s transfer.
Madu in reaction said “such frivolities have nothing to do with the posting.”
He added that his posting should have been a privilege, not a punishment.
The cleric further said: “If he (Mbaka) says it’s a punishment, then it’s open for further investigation. Posting is a regular thing, a priest can be transferred after two, three, four, or more years, it depends on the discretion of the Bishop.
He is supposed to be a missionary. “What if the Bishop had closed down the ministry, which is within his power to do? Sometimes, transfers can be for the good of the priest as something can be going wrong which he might not be aware of. The Bishop is free to move any priest at any time, it is his prerogative.”
It was learnt that Mbaka, who was the parish priest-in-charge at the CKC Parish, G.R.A, will serve as an assistant parish priest in the new parish.
Our correspondent learnt that Mbaka’s transfer was part of a general redeployment of priests by Enugu Catholic Diocese, headed by His Lordship, Bishop Calistus Onaga.
It was equally gathered that the diocese routinely redeploys priests every six years.
But Mbaka, and his massive followers, have linked the development to the anger reportedly expressed by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church over his role in the build-up to the 2015 presidential election, when he condemned former President Goodluck Jonathan in a message entitled ‘From Good Luck to Bad Luck’.
In the message, Mbaka prophesied that Muhammadu Buhari would win the election, and urged his followers and other Nigerians to vote for him. Buhari eventually won the poll.
Following the election, Mbaka has been accused of engaging in partisan politics after he visited Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, and went ahead to allege, in a New Year message, that the President’s opponents were plotting to kill him.
It is widely believed that the leadership of the Catholic Church in Enugu was not comfortable with Mbaka’s activities and a plot to transfer him was already on the pipeline.
Mbaka declared he was going to suffer following his transfer.