A Bishop Resigns in Nigeria over Ethnic Disputes

In a pastoral letter published on Ash Wednesday, the prelate announced his upcoming departure:

Since the announcement of my nomination, there have been violent reactions and resistance from a group of diocesan priests in Ahiara, lay people and others.

The heart of the matter? The bishop’s ethnic origin. Although a member of the Ibo people, who represent the majority in southeastern Nigeria, Bishop Okpaleke does not belong to the Mbaise tribe whose tribal territory is part of the diocese of Ahiara created in 1987, and of which the first bishop who died in 2010 was a member.

“He who has just been consecrated is not our bishop,” explained a priest to the Nigerian newspaper The Sun in 2013.

After efforts from the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples and the Secretariat of State, Pope Francis himself stepped in, using strong words in an attempt to resolve the situation...in vain.

Resigned, Bishop Okpaleke concluded: “I do not think that my apostolate in a diocese where some of the priests and lay faithful are ill disposed to have me in their midst would be effective.”.

Until a new pastor is nominated for the diocese, an apostolic administrator has been designated in the person of Bishop Lius Iwerjuru Ugorji, bishop of Umuahia.

A high-ranking prelate, Cardinal John Onaiyekan of the archdiocese of Abuja, fears that Rome’s acceptance of this resignation will create a dangerous precedent: “It won’t stop here,” he warned in the columns of Crux, adding that they “forced the pope’s hand.”