A spokesman for the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria said, “With the approval of his Bishop, on Sunday, October 2, 2022, Fr. Mbaka introduced Fr. Anthony Amadi to the worshippers.”
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria has said that Rev. Fr Ejike Mbaka was only asked to step aside from the administration of Adoration Ministry in Enugu in order for him to hear from God in solitude.
The bishop of Enugu Catholic Diocese Callistus Onaga had barred the faithful and the religious from attending the ministry for several months as part of sanctions issued to Mbaka for making inciting political statements.
Mbaka announced the church’s decision to his congregants on Sunday but some of them did not receive it well. They even attempted to lynch the priest appointed to take charge of Adoration Ministry while Mbaka is away.
Clarifying reports that Mbaka had been stripped of his position as spiritual director of the ministry, the national director of social communications, Padre Mike Umoh, said in a statement on Monday evening, “Going by an interview with the Director of Communications, Enugu Diocese, Rev. Fr. Benjamin Achi, Very Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka was not removed from the Adoration Ministry, as many reports are suggesting.”
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According to Achi, since it was recommended that Mbaka takes time away in solitude, in order to listen to what the Spirit of God has to tell him, he was allowed to propose a priest to administer, in the interim, to the faithful at the Adoration Ministry.
He said, “With the approval of his Bishop, on Sunday, October 2, 2022, Fr. Mbaka introduced Fr. Anthony Amadi to the worshippers.
“Unfortunately, some people were still not pleased, and would prefer that Fr. Mbaka remains.
“What every true Christian, and especially every true Catholic, should do at this moment is to commit our dear brother and priest, Fr. Mbaka, to God in prayer so that he may, through this moment, encounter God specially, come out stronger and better in recognising His will for him and gain more graces to channel those rare gifts for His glory and for the sanctification of the people of God and society at large.
“The Church loves Fr. Mbaka and cherishes him as an illustrious son. May our Mother Mary, the Queen of all Apostles, intercede for him. Amen,” the statement reads.
