The Roman catholic church is planted the world over with obvious grandeur. It has more than one billion people in its fold. Whereever one goes from the city to the remotest rural settlement there is every possibility that one would see a catholic church. In terms of religious organisation and orderliness in hierarchy the catholic church has no rival in the wide world. Led globally by the Pope based in the Vatican in Italy which serves as its global headquarters the catholic church expresses its importance and influence by her sheer great number and some good charitable works toward social solidarity.

Like majority of Igbos in eastern Nigeria born in the village I was born a catholic and baptised in the village church. Even though today I go to an evangelical new-generation church where I am based I remain a catholic by birth and whenever I am visiting home, down in the village, I still attend sunday service at the local catholic church where I was baptised and named Christopher.

With nostalgia, whenever I visit home and worship in the village church, I remember decades ago when we attended cathechism classes and the first holy communion preceded by confession of sins and a three-day spiritual retreat in another catholic church in another village. It was a powerful expression of some spiritual innocence!

The issue of faith is one that deserves every attention albeit on a secular level. The world would have become a huge amoral animal kingdom without some ecumenical rectitude and possibilities. Yet it goes without saying that immorality has not left our planet with christianity and other faiths taking in more believers and expanding in scope and reach. The gospel truth is that man is becoming more bestial and more animalistic in both reason and behaviour.

The modern man in a modern world is taking freedom to the extreme and relegating to the background issues of faith and history of his emergence in this vast garden that humanity inhabits which is being systematically destroyed by man and his ambitions and accomplices. Playing the Messiah man glorifies himself in place of God and seeks vainly to possess a third eye!

Religion, in the face of man's obscene conducts and attempts at self-immolation seeks to apply certain moralism, reminding every Adam and Eve that try as they may, it is practically impossible for us to run away from our Maker, the divine purpose behind His decision to make us after His graceful image and the reasons why we are here. No matter how each and everyone of us views it -- from negative or positive positions -- divinity cannot be over emphasized.

The Roman catholic church has had its ups and downs in different horrible times in history. During the Holocaust the church was accused of playing less dignifying roles which damaged its credibility and questioned the piousness of its hierarchy. As Lucifer, the light bearer, rebelled against God in heaven Martin Luther rebelled against the Vatican and succeeded in splitting the church and establishing the protestant church that has grown in leaps and bounds. Today the catholic church is perhaps the biggest victim of the new generation evangelical movements as members desert its fold to taste a radical Bible-wielding faith elsewhere.

Though the Roman Catholic church is highly organized some people accuse her of worshipping virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, with the rosary prayers. Again critics charge her of blending archaic tradition with modern trends in ecumenical message dissemination. But in spite of mounting criticisms and desertions the catholic church still boasts of more than a billion followership with huge concentrations in Brazil, Phillipines, Nigeria and Latin America. In Africa and elsewhere outside Europe and America there is no church service every sunday that is not filled to full capacity.

In the Catholic church to be ordained a priest there is a strict academic and theological processes to follow and accomplish without compromise. That prepares a would-be reverend father for the life of chastity and celibacy which are mandatory for every priest. But many of these ordained priests, bishops and what have you observe this celibate imposition more on the breach. Tales abound of disobedience of this particularly difficult cannon law.

Even some people out of ignorance or uncharitable criticism laced with bad faith often reach for the conclusion that sisters in the catholic fold are meant to be wives to the priests to put their manhood in check. One doubts if there is any reason to believe this unsubstantiated charge. Yet when I was in the village a certain brother aspiring and theologically preparing himself for priesthood was once accused of having an amorous relationship with a virgin village girl in the community church choir.

The whiff of the sex scandal was gotten by many but it was quickly subdued or neutralized to avoid any embarrassment and possible sanction from higher quarters. Today the brother has since been ordained and posted outside our shores.

A few days to the dawn of the new year 2008 The Sun newspaper in Lagos reported sensationally of how a girl (Ebele Eze) claimed she was put in a family way and abandoned by a certain priest (Patrick Okon) in Lagos. The girl exposed their amorous liaison which made her pregnant. But she failed to say why and how she could have been the devil's agent used to try and compromise the priest as he laboured to keep his caged libido in check. When she was enjoying the sacred pistol one wonders what was going through her mind! The priest is human, celibacy or not! The girl could have seduced him into having carnal knowledge of her!

And few years back a Kenyan Archbishop who sighted and fell in love with an Asian girl went the whole hog overtly marrying her in a blaze of kleiglights. In doing so the Archbishop went against the wise counsels of the Vatican authorities preferring to satisfy his mundane cravings. Even threats of ex-communication did not deter the high-ranking catholic bishop from pursuing his heretical course. Many cases like his abound including the charges of pedophile and child sexual abuses levelled against the ordained especially in the West.

In America many damaging suits have been filed and huge compensations paid to the complainants! The catholic church is unravelling itself as far as celibacy is concerned with many priests and bishops probably dying in silence and silently asking probing questions over the appropriateness of the celibate doctrine.

The gospel truth worth saying here is that the cannon law of celibacy of the catholic church has been overtaken by historical facts and events besides revolution in the concept of christianism around the world. And the rigidity of the Holy Sea to address the issue does not help matters. The sooner celibacy is officially annulled or at least modified as a matter of choice for potential priests the better for the over-all health of catholicism.

SOC Okenwa,
soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr

Robot  Villager

# 1 var sbtitle6773=encodeURIComponent(Between Cat...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 25.01.2008 15:31

truthsayer33  Villager

# 2 For much of Igbo land the catholic church brought you health care,registered your birth gave education and moral guidance. Even as a 10 year old altar boy I was aware that some of the girls in church were searching for sexual healing.That is the nature of all human institutions. Celibacy is very difficult but you are not forced to remain a priest.If the physical need becomes overwhelming leave the priesthood,get married and continue as a lay(?)man. Posted by truthsayer33| 25.01.2008 18:34

blondie  Villager

# 3 SOC, I do not know if you know about Reverrend Jimmy Swaggart, a pentecostal pastor, a married man who used to go to prostitutes for sex after his crusades and preachings of the sermon. Did you read recently about the American preacher, a married man of your pentecostal hue who was accused by a male prostitute of having had a homosexual tryst with him? So much for your anti-celibacy. Did you ever read about Reverrend King, a Pentecostal pastor in Lagos who would want his female worshippers to serve him naked? What role did the Catholic Church play in the holocaust apart from the fact that the world felt that the Pope at that time did not cry out loud enough against the pogrom. There were many instances of Catholics and their priests who risked their lives to help others escape the Nazis. The most famous was that of a polish priest that elected to die in the place of a Jew he wanted to save. He took the place of the Jew in the concentration camp. My mother tells me about the Caritas charity group, a Catholic group, that helped millions of Biafran Children survive the starvation imposed by the Nigerian side. How many of your Pentecostal and protestant groups lifted a finger in helping the needy? If you really study your Bible, Christianity is not about singing and dancing and paying tithes to the pastor so that he can grow richer than the flock. Practical Christianity is about striving for Heaven. How do you strive for Heaven? It is only through living a holy life. Does the modern pentecostal church emphasize holiness? Don't you agree with me that they only emphasize riches and prosperity and tithes? Did you ever read about a Pentecostal adherent, an accountant who had to steal from his company to pay Pastor Chris Oyakhilome? I have respect for some of the Pentecostals like the Deeper Life. Finally for your information Christ was celibate; Paul was celibate just like many of the apostles. The last that was mentioned about Peter's family was when Christ healed his mother in-law. Posted by blondie| 26.01.2008 06:34

tonero  Villager

# 4 The writer has outlined many things in his article about the Catholic Church that will take many write-ups to address: the reformation, “worshipping” of Mary (which as far as I know is not done in the Catholic Church; rather she is venerated as the Mother of God), blending archaic traditions (we´re not told which ones, neither is it mentioned that before the gospels were written, there already existed many practices in the Church) with modern trends in ecumenical message dissemination, etc. I wish to dwell a bit on the central aspect of the article – celibacy. While discussing the topic of celibacy in the Catholic Church, many tend to narrow the subject only to the aspect of not getting married, something which is essential to celibacy. However, what is more important, and what actually makes one take the decision to be celibate is its ultimate reason: to accept a gift from God to dedicate oneself entirely to his service. Celibacy can only be understood in the context of the “love of God”. God asks us to love him with our whole heart, with our whole mind, with all that we are. This love can be concretized either in the context of matrimony (loving one´s spouse and children with the same heart with which one loves God for love of God) or in living a celibate life where one responds to a gift granted by God to give up this human love which is wonderful in order to dedicate himself entirely to the service of the kingdom of God (cfr. Mt, 19: 10-12, 1 Cor 7, 25 – 40). The option of celibacy as can be seen from the words of Christ and St. Paul is not less humane or ideal to matrimony when one considers the reason for the celibacy – for the kingdom of God .. It is, more than anything else, a supernatural option of responding to a call by God to such an aim. Humanly speaking, one may think of it more as a renunciation rather than what it truly is, an active response to a gift of God. The celibate is not one who just doesn´t want to get married, but rather one who, recognizing the beauty of marriage, decides to forego it for the love of God. The moving force in such a decision is the love of God and the desire to be more available for the needs of the Church. It is this love (and of course the grace of God) which sustains him in the concrete circumstances of his daily existence and leads him to put all the means at his disposal to maintain that love fresh and fervent, in the same way that married couples have to keep on nourishing their love for one another. At the same time, celibacy has an eschatological significance: it reminds people that the world is just a temporary place for us while we struggle to get to heaven where in the resurrection there will be no marriage since those who are there will be like the angels in heaven (cfr. Mk 12, 25). Although not necessarily bound to the priesthood, the Latin rite of the Catholic Church has decided to select its priests from the rank of those who observe celibacy. Without judging anyone, it is really sad when one hears of people who, after deciding to serve God in celibacy, go ahead to act in ways contrary to the choice they had earlier made. More than anything, their acts are offences against God and a source of scandal to others. However, it´s always news when there´s a scandal but people sometimes forget the many other numerous priests that are living their vocations well. Is it impossible to live celibacy? Of course not! When one ensures that the love of God in his heart does not grow cold and tries each day to make if fructify, using at the same time, the supernatural means of prayer and the sacraments and being prudent in his way of acting, one most likely will persevere in his decision. If one doesn´t like Judas, begin with pilfering little sums of money, then betrayal will be far away from the horizon. Sins are born in peoples´ hearts, irrespective of their state in life and if one doesn´t put the means to overcome them, there is every possibility of succumbing. On a final note, I´m really interested in knowing the “historical facts and events besides revolution in the concept of christianism around the world which have overtaken the cannon law of celibacy”. For a practice which has very strong biblical roots, I´m surprised that we don´t have many ministers in the other religious movements that have a “radical Bible-weilding faith” who are living the vocation to celibacy. Posted by tonero| 26.01.2008 12:34

akuluouno  Villager

# 5 The canon law of celibacy:icon_ques:icon_ques I do not know any catholic priest that keeps it. History had it that popes had children in the former times. Caesar Borgia was the son of Pope Alexander VI and his mistress Vannozza De Cattanei. Archbishop Milingo as Okenwa rightly mentioned has been notorious in recent times. My take is even in the relationship between Fathers and Rev Sisiters as well as the practice of homosexualism between the former and mass servants and others. In this act HIV/AIDs has been passed from one to the other and is increasingly becoming a serious challenge to the catholic establishment. Villgers let us for now view this matter in the same way as a wise elder in my village whom villgers came to report a habitual thief in the village to. The thief had been caught red-handed on this occasion and frog marched to this elder to pass judgement. The thief on arrival asked the elder to look into the suspected bag holding the stolen fowl with the eyes of an elder and say if there is a chicken in the bag.:eek::eek::eek: Indeed th eman looked into the bag with the eyes of an elder and explained to the villagers that there was no fowl in the suspects bag:D:D:D:D Indeed for instance, many villagers might discover like Gbenga of recent that their real fathers (icon showing Aku in a dazed mood) may be Father himself. Chei I will therefore crave the indulgence of villagers to look at Okenwa's submissions to the square on this matter with the eyes of an elder. If not we may discover several sleeping dogs that are better left asleep:cool::cool::rolleyes::rolleyes: Posted by akuluouno| 26.01.2008 17:23

peterclaver2006  Villager

# 6 =akuluouno;4294983853>The canon law of celibacy:icon_ques:icon_ques I do not know any catholic priest that keeps it. History had it that popes had children in the former times. Caesar Borgia was the son of Pope Alexander VI and his mistress Vannozza De Cattanei. Archbishop Milingo as Okenwa rightly mentioned has been notorious in recent times. My take is even in the relationship between Fathers and Rev Sisiters as well as the practice of homosexualism between the former and mass servants and others. In this act HIV/AIDs has been passed from one to the other and is increasingly becoming a serious challenge to the catholic establishment. Villgers let us for now view this matter in the same way as a wise elder in my village whom villgers came to report a habitual thief in the village to. The thief had been caught red-handed on this occasion and frog marched to this elder to pass judgement. The thief on arrival asked the elder to look into the suspected bag holding the stolen fowl with the eyes of an elder and say if there is a chicken in the bag.:eek::eek::eek: Indeed th eman looked into the bag with the eyes of an elder and explained to the villagers that there was no fowl in the suspects bag:D:D:D:D Indeed for instance, many villagers might discover like Gbenga of recent that their real fathers (icon showing Aku in a dazed mood) may be Father himself. Chei I will therefore crave the indulgence of villagers to look at Okenwa's submissions to the square on this matter with the eyes of an elder. If not we may discover several sleeping dogs that are better left asleep:cool::cool::rolleyes::rolleyes: This is just a tissue of fantasies and concocted wishes dressed in the garb of facts to drive home one's jaundiced wishes and religious bias. You are not making any meaning than recycling fairy tales, your pejorative wishes and your own biases as facts we must face but then, tell me which of those institutions you venerate and worship in that is free from the largely concocted fairy tales you made up here to embellish you post?. Is marriage the license for the type of licentiousness sexual orgy, which an average protestant and Pentecostal denomination do not see as sinful? I know that most Protestant and Pentecostal churches and denominations were founded on the luscious loins of women and they take sexual liberty as integral parts of their worship. I know you are an Anglican; can you educate your readers on the history of Anglicanism and how your founder died before you delve into the history of the Pope that had a son? Does the marriage of the clergy, as practiced by these so-called churches, enough license for promiscuity? You try to forage into your history book and your rich fountain of fallacies to tell us why priests of the Catholic church should marry but is marriage the needed license for sexual liberty, as is well practiced in the protestant and Pentecostal churches? Don’t try to paint black what you cannot change even if the results you come up with satisfies your personal wishes and your religious interests. Celibacy has come to stay and if you are not a Catholic, you have no business inventing your own cocktail of lies, fabrications and fallacies as you did here, to drive your points and your shallow fantasies. Posted by peterclaver2006| 28.01.2008 06:44

akuluouno  Villager

# 7 PC06, Please let us leave this matter for now because, events in both Europe and the US and I mean court cases which have been won and huge sums awarded to those whom were visited with all manners of sexual escapades by the catholic clergy are already in the public domain, thanks to the internet and the miracles of modern mass communication. Or as I always sermonise, are not written in the Book of Jasher.:D:D:D The Anglicans and Pentecostals may have both their lesser and mortal sins which might place them in purgatory and hell respectivley but Okenwa posited some thesis on which our coments derived. In the Nigerian context, many things are happening that are unpalatable not just in the Catholic Church but in all the churches that I know. The church we grew up with as children is no longer what we know and see. I do not mean to isolate the catholic church of which I have deep respects for in spite of the activities of some charlatans there in.:mad::mad::mad: Posted by akuluouno| 29.01.2008 05:29

peterclaver2006  Villager

# 8 =akuluouno;4294984442>PC06, Please let us leave this matter for now because, events in both Europe and the US and I mean court cases which have been won and huge sums awarded to those whom were visited with all manners of sexual escapades by the catholic clergy are already in the public domain, thanks to the internet and the miracles of modern mass communication. Or as I always sermonise, are not written in the Book of Jasher.:D:D:D The Anglicans and Pentecostals may have both their lesser and mortal sins which might place them in purgatory and hell respectivley but Okenwa posited some thesis on which our coments derived. In the Nigerian context, many things are happening that are unpalatable not just in the Catholic Church but in all the churches that I know. The church we grew up with as children is no longer what we know and see. I do not mean to isolate the catholic church of which I have deep respects for in spite of the activities of some charlatans there in.:mad::mad::mad: Oh sure, I agree we should leave the issue at that. If you note my threads well, I hardly delve into issues that concern religion and ethnicity. Not because I am a coward but because these issues are very fundamental to so many people. But I loathe this idea of overblowing any issue in the Catholic Church when I know quite well that from foundation some of these other so-called Churches or sects are founded on plain fraud. That no person takes interest in what happens in the other churches does not vitiate the fact that mire horrible things; sexual or otherwise happen in them that may make the ear to tinge. I agree with you that so many things are happening in the Church but I beliieve they should be handled holistlically if we want to find answers that would endure. Thanks, however and let's keep the peace. Posted by peterclaver2006| 29.01.2008 08:34

lionking  Villager

# 9 PeterClaver06, A Roman Catholic should be the very last person to talk about fraud in the house of God. Go read up on the Indulgences, the Crusades by proxy, the Papal States in Italy, the papal armies and navies, the Borgias and the Inquisition. Finally, go read the 99 Theses of Martin Luther and the origins of the Reformation. FYI, the Church of England and the Anglican churches worldwide are only one denomination of Protestantism and by no means the oldest. The Calvinist, the Reformed and the Lutheran churches long pre-date the Church of England. I know they teach you Roman Catholics that all the Protestant churches were founded by randy King Henry of England but please try to open your mind and read some real history. Yes the Vatican as an institution and its officials as the RC hierarchy across Europe actively asssisted the Nazi forces in occupied Europe to transport and murder the Jews. Furthermore, by promoting and teaching the blood libel of Jewish responsibility for Christ's death long after most Protestant denominations had long abandoned it, the RC Church created a moral and intellectual climate in Europe which precipated the holocaust and encouraged Europeans in occupied countries to cooperate with and assist the Nazis in exterminating the Jews. After WW2, the Vatican as an institution and individual RC priests all over Europe helped senior Nazis to escape justice and flee to South America. Long after the war, Catholic bishops in Europe were still offering excuses for the holocaust and refusing to acknowledge their role and moral wrongdoing. Lets not even go into the relationship between the RC Church and murderous military dictatorships in Latin America. Or how the RC hierarchy and priests in Latin America enouraged and participated in death squads in the 1970s and 80s leading to the murder and disappering of tens of thousands of civilians perceived as 'socialists'. Lets not go into how HIV/AIDS became so prevalent among African Roman Catholic clergy and nuns. Or were they all copulating with monkeys in central Africa? Go read the real history of the RC Church. Abeg make we hear word. Posted by lionking| 29.01.2008 14:32

peterclaver2006  Villager

# 10 =lionking;4294984611>PeterClaver06, A Roman Catholic should be the very last person to talk about fraud in the house of God. Go read up on the Indulgences, the Crusades by proxy, the Papal States in Italy, the papal armies and navies, the Borgias and the Inquisition. Finally, go read the 99 Theses of Martin Luther and the origins of the Reformation. FYI, the Church of England and the Anglican churches worldwide are only one denomination of Protestantism and by no means the oldest. The Calvinist, the Reformed and the Lutheran churches long pre-date the Church of England. I know they teach you Roman Catholics that all the Protestant churches were founded by randy King Henry of England but please try to open your mind and read some real history. Yes the Vatican as an institution and its officials as the RC hierarchy across Europe actively asssisted the Nazi forces in occupied Europe to transport and murder the Jews. Furthermore, by promoting and teaching the blood libel of Jewish responsibility for Christ's death long after most Protestant denominations had long abandoned it, the RC Church created a moral and intellectual climate in Europe which precipated the holocaust and encouraged Europeans in occupied countries to cooperate with and assist the Nazis in exterminating the Jews. After WW2, the Vatican as an institution and individual RC priests all over Europe helped senior Nazis to escape justice and flee to South America. Long after the war, Catholic bishops in Europe were still offering excuses for the holocaust and refusing to acknowledge their role and moral wrongdoing. Lets not even go into the relationship between the RC Church and murderous military dictatorships in Latin America. Or how the RC hierarchy and priests in Latin America enouraged and participated in death squads in the 1970s and 80s leading to the murder and disappering of tens of thousands of civilians perceived as 'socialists'. Lets not go into how HIV/AIDS became so prevalent among African Roman Catholic clergy and nuns. Or were they all copulating with monkeys in central Africa? Go read the real history of the RC Church. Abeg make we hear word. And here goes another purveyor of disguised religious sentiments but if the Catholic Church is the purveyor of evil as your dawdy rebuttal tries desperately to prove through your selective deployment of fictions you hold sacred as truth, which so-called owner-managed church among the lists you mentioned; from Lutheran to Calvinist and the many other non-descript shops you mentioned is free from any of the sins you mentioned? You are so good at documenting your compendium of sins of the Catholic and like a typical Biblical hypocrite you refuse to acknowledge that in this game, four out of five fingers would always be pointing at you. What exactly was is or would be their stand in the face of the issues you raised here? Can you tell me the position these so-called churches that hardly outlived their founder’s own personal interests maintained at all these stops in history? Can you tell me their stands at current events in the world today so that you can avail your readers of a counterpoise of what the Catholic Church did wrong in history? What is the position of these your so-called churches in today’s world, Africa and Nigeria? What actually is their creed and why is that they have found it difficult to outlive the narrow prisms of their founders/managers/owners? What is their response to the scourge of diseases, ignorance, and other vices in the remotest parts of the world apart from a self-vetted claim of holiness that fools only themselves and their hoodwinks victims? I don’t bandy words with victims of the many embarrassing shops that have come with the intent to bury Christianity in the name of denominationism. None of the co-called churches (you know I don’t regard them as churches) you mentioned stands for anything other than the vested interests of their founders. If they do, why is it that all the so-called churches you mentioned; either Lutherans, Calvinists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, or so many others find it difficult to remain under the masthead of Protestantism? Is it about endless search for redemption or the endless restiveness of prospective church barons? Don’t let me give any little attention to the embarrassment the so-called Protestantism has caused Christianity. I guess you need to read the real history of the so-called church you are following, if it has any history except the little interests of its founder/manager and owner. Posted by peterclaver2006| 31.01.2008 07:54

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