Kaigama also counselled against reducing ‘Adoration Centres’ to where a priest creates drama and makes careless and insensitive utterances
By Mosope Michaels
Archbishop of Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, Ignatius Kaigama has stated that approved Catholic ‘Adoration Centres’ in Nigeria are meant to be a place of adoring Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and not to intimidate, manipulate and extort people
The Archbishop made the statement in Abuja on Sunday, June 19, while speaking at St. Aloysius Catholic Church, in response to the controversy trailing the comments made by the Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry, Rev Fr. Ejike Mbaka about Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate.
Mbaka, who has since been banned by the Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Bishop Calistus Onaga, had said the former Anambra State governor being a stingy man cannot win the 2023 presidential election.
ALSO READ: Enugu Bishop bars Catholic faithful from Mbaka’s church
Responding to the drama that followed Mbaka’s utterances, Kaigama urged Catholic priests to decrease from making statements that are purely political or mundane, rather, he urged them to preach about Jesus Christ to people.
The ArchBishop went on to say the Catholic Church will resist any attempt to reduce the centres’ to where a priest creates drama and makes careless and insensitive utterances.
He said “Priests should not allow the Mass to become an occasion for drama, exaggerated inculturation or utterances that are purely political or mundane. People come to Jesus at Mass to get spiritually nourished by the word and the bread of life, and refreshed for the long, rough, and tough journey to heaven.
“To this end, approved Catholic ‘adoration centres’ in Nigeria should really be for adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, not where to intimidate, manipulate and extort people or where a priest attempts to create a personality cult by careless and insensitive utterances and drama.”