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… respect yourself -Archbishop Okeke warns Gov.
From Emmanuel Uzor, Awka
Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State came under severe attack from the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha and Metropolitan of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke over the statement from the governor against the church.
Soludo had engaged the cleric in a war of words after the governor had threatened to impose a fine on the Obimma family for celebrating funeral ceremonies of Ezinne Grace Obimma in a flamboyant manner.
The governor in the requiem mass for Ezinne Grace Obimma, mother of the spiritual director of Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry, Uke, in Idemili South council area, Rev Fr Emmanuel Obimma, blamed the family, for over-shooting limit of burial expenses prescribed by the law.
The governor said the insignificant, low-key burial of his late father, Pa Simeon Soludo, was child’s play compared to that of the late Madam Obimma, who died at 88.
Reacting to the statement from the Governor, the Archbishop of Onitsha flayed the governor for stepping into an area he had no jurisdiction and asked him to respect the boundaries or principles of separation of jurisdiction.
“ In separation of power, you don’t make laws for the church on how to bury the dead because it’s bound to fail.
“It’s not the duty of the governor to make law on how Christian burials should be done because there are more serious things the government should do. Any law that is impossible to keep or enforce should be considered unjust.”
According to him, the church can only make laws where it has exclusive ecclesiastical powers and not for the government because they remain two separate jurisdictions.
He pointed out that the church made suggestions on how to cut expenses during burial but noted that the choice of celebrants to decide whether to spend hugely or meagrely depended on them.
Earlier, at the mass, the presiding cleric and chancellor of Onitsha Archdiocese, Rev Fr. Dr. Prudentius, Aroh, and Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the last general elections, Peter Obi, said the late Madam Obimma lived a life worthy of emulation.
In his words of appreciation, Rev Fr. Obimma, who is the founder of Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry Uke, said his mother, whose life was deeply rooted in Christ, died on All Saints Day (1st November), noting that heaven had gained a saint.
Rev. Fr. Obimma, the Parish Priest of Blessed Iwene Tansi Catholic Church in Umudioka, Dunukofia Local Council Area, hinted that Madam Obimma lived a life dedicated to the service of God and humanity. Ends
