by Bishop Peter Ebere Okpaleke has finally resigned as the bishop of Ahiara diocese after priests and laymen rejected his appointment for six years. A Vatican statement said the pope had accepted the resignation. It said the position had been declared vacant and that a papal administrator would run it for the time being.
The embattled priest resigned after the Vatican failed to quell fierce objections over his nomination because he is not from Ahiara diocese. Okpaleke is a native of Anambra state. The Vatican announced the resignation of Okpaleke on Monday, six years after his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, named him to the post.
Okpaleke was never able to perform his duties because the priests and laypeople of the diocese were against his nomination. Pope Francis initially took a firm stand in defending the nomination, summoning Ahiara clergy to the Vatican in June last year. He demanded “obedience” and gave those priests opposing his nomination 30 days to “ask his forgiveness” and accept Okpaleke’s appointment or face the sack. The pope threatened to sack any priest who did not adhere to his instructions.
Pope Francis also demanded that the rebellious priests write a letter of apology to Okpaleke. But the row continued, and Cardinal John Onaiyekan, archbishop of the Nigerian capital Abuja, was appointed as an Administrator of the diocese since July. Fides, the Vatican’s missionary news agency, on Monday, published excerpts from Okpaleke’s resignation letter, saying he had not been able to take charge of the diocese or even live within its environment because of continuing “violent reaction and resistance.”
Fides said some 200 priests had written to the pope promising their obedience. But many had also told the pontiff that they had “psychological difficulty in collaborating with the bishop after years of conflict.”
The agency, which is controlled by the Vatican, said the rebellious priests should “reflect on the grave damage inflicted on the Church” through their “unreasonable actions opposing a bishop legitimately appointed by the Supreme Pontiff.” In his resignation letter, Okpaleke said remaining bishop in Ahiara would not be beneficial to the Church.
