The Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural In the Diaspora, AEISCID, has commended the Catholic Bishop of Abakaliki diocese, Prof. Peter Chukwu Nworie, for counseling the body of Christ in general and the Catholic community in particular on the choices before them in the 2023 general elections.
The Ebonyi indigenes, however, warned against an unnecessary attack on the Bishop for saying what he said publicly.
The Catholic Bishop was seen in a viral video where he encouraged the Church to pray for the kind of leaders with the positive qualities Ebonyi deserves and those that electorates must reject in the February and March 2023 general elections.
The sermon was said to have been delivered on the occasion of the commemoration of the 2022 ‘Christ the King’ day at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Abakaliki, Ebonyi state capital.
But responding to the viral video through a statement Tuesday in Abuja, President General of the AEISCID, Amb. Pascal Oluchchukwu, urged Ebonyi indigenes to listen to the voice of wisdom that the Bishop represents.
Mr Oluchukwu said: “We, the Ebonyi people in the diaspora under the aegis of Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural In the Diaspora, AEISCID wish to commend the Catholic Bishop of Abakaliki diocese, Most Rev. Prof. Peter Chukwu Nworie for the uncommon courage he has demonstrated.
“To our fancy, the Bishop also went further to summarize some of the bad policies and actions affecting the Ebonyi masses which our association has been hammering on in various media platforms since particularly the re-election of the current government in power in the State.
“For us at AEISCID, we only feel elated that for once, someone in the calibre of the Catholic Bishop mustered the courage to brace the odds and lived up to the Canonical ordinance of the ancient Church where even Christ spoke truth to power and concerned authorities.
“We are aware as some of us who are Catholics that the Church while being questioned on the Participation of Catholics in Political Life had it clearly written in the Doctrinal notes as directed to the Bishops of the Catholic Church and, in a particular way, to Catholic politicians and all lay members of the faithful called to participate in the political life of democratic societies;
“A constant teaching on The commitment of Christians in the world has found a variety of expressions in the course of the past 2000 years. One such expression has been Christian involvement in political life: Christians, as one Early Church writer stated, (is to) play their full role as citizens.’
“They had reasoned that mong the saints, the Church venerates many men and women who served God through their generous commitment to politics and government. Among these, Saint Thomas More, who was proclaimed Patron of Statesmen and Politicians, gave witness by his martyrdom to «the inalienable dignity of the human conscience.
“Though subjected to various forms of psychological pressure, Saint Thomas More, like modern Bishop Nworie refused to compromise, never forsaking the constant fidelity to legitimate authority and institutions.
“This has now distinguished him, especially in a time when our dear Ebonyi State has become a cause of concern for many due to man-inflicted political intolerance and desperation.”
NAN
