Newly
appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Antonio Guido
Filipazzi, has said Pope Francis has begun evaluation of the apology
letters written by priests of the crisis-ridden Catholic Diocese of
Ahiara.
Filipazzi spoke exclusively with Daily
Sun in Abuja when the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama,
received him in audience.
In 2012, the clergy and the laity of the
Catholic Diocese of Ahiara refused to accept Bishop Peter Okpalaeke on
grounds that he was not of Mbaise extraction. The priests had insisted
that one out of the over 700 priests of Mbaise origin should be chosen
as the bishop of Ahiara.
Pope Francis, while receiving a delegation of the Catholic hierarchy in Nigeria, led by John Cardinal Onaiyekan, on June 8, 2017, directed all the Ahiara diocesan clergies to, within 30 days, personally write to the Vatican, pledging obedience to him and accepting Okpalaeke as their bishop.
Disclosing the current position of the
Vatican on the Ahiara crisis, Filipazzi said: “The position is that the
Pope asked the priests to write letters to him to declare their
obedience to him and the letters were sent, and now, we are in the
process of evaluation of the letters.”
Asked about the position the Vatican may
eventually take on the Ahiara crisis, Filipazzi said: “I don’t know. But
we hope this invitation of the Pope will be accepted and the people and
the priests, will accept the rules of the Catholic Church about the
appointment of the bishop.”
Upon Filipazzi’s arrival in July, there
were insinuations that the Pope had started responding to the letters
written by the Ahiara Diocesan priests. “I
don’t know when they started to receive the letters. But the deadline
was on July 9, and I arrived on the 17th. I don’t think many letters
were already here,” the former Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia said.
Speaking about Filipazzi’s visit, Onyeama
said it was fantastic and really good. The minister said: “It went very
well and we look forward to working with him and his team.”