Catholic Church asked Fr. Anelu to proceed on an indefinite leave of absence to create an opportunity for a thorough investigation
By Uzor Odigbo
The Catholic Church in Lagos on Tuesday suspended the Parish Priest in charge of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ewu-Owa Gberigbe in Ikorodu, Lagos, Rev. Fr. James Anelu.
The priest was stopped from his apostolic work for his xenophobic preaching and discriminating against the Igbo community in his parish.
Fr. Anelu banned Igbo songs and choruses in his parish.
Alfred Adewale Martin, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, in a “disclaimer”, directed Anelu to proceed on “an indefinite leave of absence”.
A message which went viral in the social media on Sunday and titled, “Igbo Songs Banned in Church,” said the congregants rebelled against the xenophobic priest by walking out on him.
The message, which was sent to TheNiche, read: “The Parish Priest of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ewu-Owa Gberigbe in Ikorodu, Rev. Fr. James Anelu, has banned Igbo songs and choruses in his Church.
“The Priest who angrily stopped a soul lifting chorus during the second collection said the Igbos cannot keep dominating other people even in his Church. He sighted the case of his Benin Diocese where Igbos dominate to the point of becoming the Bishop in person of Akubueze.
“Rev. Fr. James Anelu said that the spirit of God in any place recognises only languages indigenous to that geographical location.
“On saying this, the entire congregation went up in tumultuous uproar, leading to abrupt dismissal as people massively walked out of the Mass.”
The message was shortly followed by a video which has also gone viral.
In the video, the congregants were heard openly challenging the priest during the Mass, which is very rare and unusual in the Catholic Church where the norm is obedience.
However, a clearly embarrassed Archbishop Martins, in the letter dated February 7, said, “It has been brought to our notice that Rev Fr James Anelu, the priest-in-charge of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ewu-Owa, Ikorodu, made some completely unacceptable comments about Igbo songs being sung in the Church and unsavoury remarks that do not represent the Catholic church’s position on the common brotherhood of peoples of all tribes and religions.
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“For this reason, he has been asked to proceed on an indefinite leave of absence to give an opportunity for a thorough investigation of all the matters relating to his ministry on the parish. The leave of absence takes effect from Tuesday, February 8, 2021, till further notice.”
The Archbishop called on the church faithful to continue to serve God as one big family and in unity.
The suspension letter
