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From: AIDOGHIE PAULINUS, Abuja
The Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has said the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has not responded to letters written by the Catholic priests of the crisis-ridden, Ahiara Diocese.
Onaiyekan stated this following a July 23, 2017, publication in a Nigerian Daily (not Daily Sun) titled “Okpaleke: Pope replies recalcitrant priests of Ahiara,” which reported that Pope Francis had started responding to the apology letters.
The Daily quoted Onaiyekan, who doubles as the Apostolic Administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara, as saying: “The pope promised he would write back, and he’s doing so.”
But when contacted about the veracity of the Pope’s response, Onaiyekan, in a text message sent to Daily Sun at exactly 10pm Monday night, said “I have no information yet from Rome.”
Recall that after several efforts to solve the over four years leadership crisis of the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara failed, a delegation of the Catholic hierarchy in Nigeria, had on June 8, 2017, at 11:00am, met Pope Francis in the Vatican.
Sequel to the meeting, the Supreme Pontiff gave all the diocesan clergy 30 days to personally write to the Vatican, pledging obedience to the Pope and accepting Bishop Okpalaeke as their local ordinary.
A source privy to the meeting had told Daily Sun that two secretaries who were in attendance, one sitting on either side of the room, took note of the Pope’s speech.
According to the source, “the speech was prepared as an official statement and was taken to the Pope in the evening to append his signature.
“It was translated into English early the following day by Propaganda Fide, after the Pope had approve the text.”
Following the Pope’s directive, the Ahiara Diocesan priests wrote apology letters to the Pope as directed.
Daily Sun had exclusively reported last week that barely any minute change, the Pope was going to respond to the apology letters in a week’s time.
The worst fate that could befall the priests is to be suspended a divinis which means ‘suspended from divine actions.’
