Cardinal Okogie reacts to Fr Mbaka&#39;s recent outburst, says Mbaka was under the influence of another spirit

Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, the retired
Archbishop of Lagos state has reacted to the
recent statements made by Fr. Ejike Mbaka on
President Jonathan's led administration. In an
interview with Vanguard, Cardinal Okogie said
the statements made by Fr Mbaka were
abnormal and certainly not one influenced by
God's spirit but by another spirit.

According to
the respected clergyman, Mbaka's attitude is
unbecoming. He says if he had his way he would
have closed down the Enugu diocese as Fr.
Mbaka has repeatedly been involved in
controversial things which the leadership of the
diocese has not deemed fit to call him to order.
Excerpts of his interview after the cut...

How do you see the statement credited to Rev.
Father Ejike Mbaka?

Any serious priest will not speak the way he
spoke. I am not saying that he is not serious. I
will not agree with the things he said. According
to what I read in the newspapers, a few weeks
earlier, the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan,
visited his Adoration Ground in Enugu and he
prayed for her. At that occasion, he was said to
have lambasted the opposition party, APC, and
now to turn around overnight and start
lambasting President Goodluck Jonathan shows
that there is something wrong somewhere.
Personally, I felt bad because it is not the place
of a priest to go to that extent. He can have his
personal opinion, but to go to the extent that he
went is abnormal.

I want you to know that he
wasn’t speaking for the church. He said he was
moved by the spirit, and I wonder what kind of
spirit was that.
He said he was under the inspiration of the
spirit.
If he was under the inspiration of the
spirit, I wonder if the spirit is that of God. I don’t
think the spirit he’s referring to is the spirit of
God. He must have been under the influence of
another spirit.

He must have been listening to a
wrong spirit.

Is the statement not embarrassing to the
Catholic Church as a whole?

Indeed, it is. But I must say to you that he was
not speaking on behalf of the church. No! No!!
No!!! Anybody with such opinion is in error. The
man cannot hold brief for the church. Pardon me,
but how can I say you are bloody fool and
anybody takes that to mean that all journalists
are bloody fools.
It’s very funny.

In a situation such as this, what does the
Catholic Church do?

Well, the Catholic Church is structured in such a
way that there are dioceses where each priest
belongs. This particular priest happens to come
from Enugu Diocese, so it is left for the bishop in
charge of that diocese to discipline him. If the
priest fails to obey the discipline, then the bishop
is obligated to report the mother to the Catholic
Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN.
You may have heard the Bishop of Abuja
Diocese, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, who said that
if the priest were to be in his diocese, he would
discipline him straight. But he is not in his
diocese.
The best anyone of us can do is just to
advise him that he had gone too far and he is
free to take our advice and he may not. God
gave every one of us a free will and we are at
liberty to use the freewill as we choose.

What kind of sanction can be given to such a
priest?

It depends on his bishop. You cannot dictate for
his bishop. Don’t forget that this same man was
at loggerheads with a former governor of Enugu
State, Chimaroke Nnamanni, and it was the
same Adoration Ground in Enugu. If I have my
way, we should close that place because a lot of
things have been happening there that are out of
tune.
I think Gov. Peter Obi also went there for
prayers at one point. If I have my way, I won’t
go there for anything…