Soliciting For Funding Of Catholic Bishops’ Meeting

 By Peter Awele Pieray Odor

Two weeks ago, I received via WhatsAPP a video about the meeting intended by Catholic Bishops concerning which a voice solicited for funding from the public. It was scheduled to hold from Saturday, 11th of February 2023 to Friday, 17th February, 2023, at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja. The theme of the conference is Citizens Participation in Good Governance in Nigeria. The money requested was to be sent to the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Zenith Bank, 10111533088.

It is reasoned that the solicitation for fund for a conference by Catholic bishops is corrupt, corruptive, scandalous, and confirms the pervasiveness of corruption in Nigeria because morals and faith are breached. The breach of morals is defended here.

Breach of morals is explained by its insensitivity to the poverty, suffering, misery, agony and cries of Nigerians, how long Nigerians have been in this situation, and the fact that they could fund it themselves. Indeed one bishop could fund it! The solicitation for money also breaches morals because it constitutes temptation to many poor and suffering Nigerians who would feel that not to send money, “even a widow’s mite”, to their bishops would be a sin.

In this regards, it is noted that the position of bishop has authority and power in the minds and concerning the faith of lay Catholic because they represent our Lord Jesus Christ. The authority or power acts as force by compelling obedience or compliance from lay Catholics.

The force exists even in non-religious relationships such as between a president and his vice, a Chief Medical Director and a medical doctor under him, the Managing Director of a company and a staff of the company, and between a professor and a PhD student whose work he is supervising. The force demands obedience and respect from the subordinate person. These give in order to avoid punishment by the superior person, receive favour, or be liked by the superior person.

The latent force in the authority and power of being a bishop, not the man as a man, is real and very effective. Its reality and effectiveness makes the argument that some people make that “no one is forced to give” categorically wrong! To lay Catholics, they should not be disobeyed or refused what they ask. Even priests enjoy the benefits of the effect of this force in their relations with lay Catholics when they tell them what to do and what they should not do, and when they ask anything of them, owing to the nature and status of the priesthood upheld by all lay Catholics as being of Jesus Christ.  

Another reason that makes the solicitation for money corrupt and corruptive is that it encourages, or provides a reason, to at least one person to give from the wealth acquired corruptly as charity. As a corollary to this, it is corrupt because it is a conscious and deliberate neglect of morals, propriety, integrity, virtue, and holiness, and willingly gratifying their materialism or appetite, and this proceeded from “I-don’t-care how he got his money” or “how he got his money is not my business”. This attitudinal or behavioural posture cannot be moral, ethically right, or virtuous. A good shepherd must care where his sheep feed so that they do not feed in a person’s farm. A good shepherd does not abandon his sheep to do whatever they like; he guides them aright (Psalm. 23).

Our Lord Jesus Christ told a wealthy man to go sell all that he has and give to the poor; NOT to him! He should return to follow him! Therefore, whose example are the bishops of the Holy Catholic Church in Nigeria imitating by this extorting from the poor and coveting of the wealth of the rich! Take note that this is not the only vexing degenerate, scandalous and embarrassing conduct of our bishops.

Lay Catholics have tolerated them for a very long time and have been praying for them. What a priest complained about concerning the place of money in the liturgy of harvest thanksgiving is caused by bishops because they demand very much of their priests and this has force on priests for the fact that they are under the force of the vow of obedience to their bishops.

Therefore, our bishops are absolutely obligated to heed what God told the church in Nigeria through the priest. His observations have flabbergasted and troubled many lay Catholics. I mean the fact that priests demand of lay Catholics through capitalistic commercialisation, threats, engineering of competition among ethnic groups for which would give the most, the challenge of the ego and social status of lay Catholics, etc. These have been their strategies for extorting from the poor and forcing the wealthy to give in order to maximise how much they give to their bishops.

With very great pain in my heart, I note that many Catholics no more see any difference between the Holy Catholic Church and some misguided Pentecostal Assemblies or Fellowships because of the obvious commercialism, the monetisation of everything, and the recognition given in different ways to those who give the most. Catholics are different by the miles as I explained in the book Catholics are the Real Pentecostals: We are Not a Pentecostal Assembly or Fellowship.

If the bishops cannot finance the conference because of the number of days they want to hold it they should make it two days or hold virtual conference. The people whom they are asking for fund adopt virtual for their conferences in the present financial realities.

Note: NO budget was given to the public. They may receive two billion naira and they are not accountable to anyone! As I concluded that the solicitation for money is breach of traditional Christ-Apostolic morals after interrogation and intellectualisation, I asked myself: Is Bishop Kukah, the greatest fault-finder and the most prominent, vocal and severest critic of President Buhari, part of this corruption and scandals?

*Prince Odor is an Akoka, Lagos-based  an Independent Researcher and Public Good Promoter (PrincePeterAweleOdor@gmail.com