*Ahiara priests meet at the cathedral
The crisis of succession that has dogged the Ahiara Diocese in Imo State since the death of its pioneer Bishop, Victor Chikwe, may be settled very soon with the resignation of the embattled Bishop Peter Okpaleke on Monday.
On Monday, the Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis, appointed Most Reverend Lucius Ugorji, Catholic Bishop of Umuahia, as the temporary administrator for the Diocese, following the resignation of Bishop Okpalaeke.
Okpalaeke resigned following a series of crisis that lingered for almost six years, with most Catholics in the diocese rejecting him after his appointment in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
They rejected him even when Pope Francis insisted they obey him as the bishop and that he would not be replaced.
In a statement on Monday from the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria signed by its director of social communications, Rev Fr. Chris Anyanwu, the church said the appointment of the new administrator was with immediate effect.
“Following the resignation of Most Rev Peter Okpalaeke as the Bishop of Ahaira Diocese, as a result of the crisis that has lingered for nearly six years in that diocese, His Holiness Pope Francis has today appointed Most Rev Lucius Ugorji, the Bishop of Umuahia as the Apostolic Administrator of Ahaira Diocese. This appointment is with immediate effect,” Fr. Anyanwu said.
Pope Francis backed down and accepted the resignation of Bishop Okaleke who had been rejected for years by the priests and laity of the diocese.
The announcement on Monday came after the Pontiff issued a harsh ultimatum to Ahiara priests in June that they would lose their jobs if they didn’t obey him and accept Okpaleke as their bishop.
It wasn’t clear how many of them obeyed and pledged in writing to accept Okpaleke.
The case was a test of papal authority, and has echoes with another divisive bishopric appointment in the news concerning Chilean Bishop Juan Barros, who has been rejected by many faithful and priests.
Ahiara priests were in jubilant mood on Monday when The Niche called. One of the priests who rejected Okpaleke said, “God has answered our prayers. We knew that the truth will prevail. Now that Okpaleke has resigned, the ultimate goal is to have our own Bishop. We have been summoned to a meeting at the Cathedral this evening. We will take it from there. But God is on side.”