The aspiration of a Catholic priest, Father Hyacinth Alia, to become the next governor of Benue State has provoked a political catechism in the state. Its key focus is on the Code of Canon Law’s prohibition of Catholic clergy from engaging in partisan politics. As the catechetical conversation continues, especially on social media, it is at once interesting, complicated, and even frustrating. A major snag of the Benue political catechism is the presence of so many teachers in one classroom. Worse still, there is no defined qualification for its teaching job: priests, lay faithful, canonists, civil lawyers, politicians, Catholics and non-Catholics, with or without training, all have suddenly become experts on the canonical provision regarding the engagement of Catholic clergy in partisan politics.
In the media, Fr. Alia has gained the title of “Suspended Catholic Priest” due to his suspension from public pastoral ministry. I suspect that some of Fr. Alia’s critics received the news of his suspension as a workable commodity that could be weaponized against his political interest. Unfortunately, Civil Law and Canon Law operate on separate grounds. Thus, the suspension did not make him a “suspended citizen” of Nigeria, and that has made the canonical sanction unpalatable for his detractors. The dual reality of his identity as a catholic priest and a Nigerian citizen has also complicated the contents of the ongoing Benue catechism ignited by his political ambition. It is very likely that at the news of Fr. Alia’s suspension, his supporters who are ignorant about the Church’s Canon Law were angry with the bishop who signed the document. It could probably be for this reason that teachers of the Benue political catechism felt it was necessary to educate Alia’s supporters. Otherwise, the pastoral value and end-goals of the canonical lectures are difficult to grasp.
As the current political situation in Benue continues to unfold, some of the following questions are inescapable. Apart from positing Fr. Alia’s priestly iniquity on social media, can teachers of the Benue political catechism also try to explain the true meaning of God’s love to Benue people who live in a state that has backslidden into a poverty hub of the nation? Or is the plight of poverty in Benue not a relevant pastoral question? Yes, we understand that suffering is an indispensable component of the Christian faith. At the same time, we also understand that the crucified Christ also performed miracles to relieve people of their bodily suffering. Along with the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sin, Jesus Christ also gave people food to eat. How can we forget His feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14: 13-21; Mark 6:30-44), or His intervention at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11) where He turned water into wine. Or are those portions of the Bible never read in any Church in Benue State?
Certainly, the testimony of the apostles must be upheld as they said: “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables” (Acts 6:2). But in order to remain undistracted, the apostles effectively made practical arrangement to address the complaint of the unequal sharing of food that was reported to them. The choice of seven reputable men to wait at tables was a plausible pastoral arrangement of the apostles (Acts 6:4-6). While their primary mission was to preach the word of God, we have also read that when the apostles wanted to send people away to go and find food for themselves, Jesus said to them, “You yourselves give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37). These biblical passages have made me to wonder in anguish over the plight of Benue people. As salaries of Benue civil servants remain unpaid for months, and the streets are filled with tears and complaints day and night, with some people even dying for lack of money to pay hospital bills, what concrete arrangement have we made as a Christian community in Benue, to address this sickening situation?
In a state full of people with no stable income, will it not be classic for Benue ministers of the gospel to consider focusing exclusively on the ministry of the word of God and suspending monetary offertory and second collections in churches? There would be happiness in the land with some relief from tithes and weekly second collections and levies. Will the “good and faithful” ministers of the gospel also exude the same happiness? In the spirit of the gospel’s preferential option for the poor, should we not stop insisting in the midst of so much poverty that it’s the people’s duty and right to give offertory? Likewise, will it not be a deserving democratic spirit for Benue politicians to forfeit their monthly allowances, in solidarity with the suffering of their people, and let the money be used towards payment of those civil servants who have not been paid for months? How come the same people who pontificate at Fr. Alia’s political and canonical iniquity can’t see and enlighten the public about the canonical implication of the scattered IDP camps in Benue when they regularly pass through the same routes all the times? In conscience, can anyone escape noticing that several of our Benue brothers and sisters are living in IDP camps, with no idea of when they could return to a place called home?
As we have perpetually seen on television, Governor Samuel Ortom has dedicated a lot of time and energy to a frustrating fight against the security crisis in Benue engineered by the Fulani herdsmen and local bandits. Have we forgotten that some Catholic priests have also lost their life as a result of this insecurity in the state? Has any teacher of the current political catechism even considered initiating a “catechesis” that is informed by the Code of Canon Law to pursue a cause for their beatification or canonization? I imagine that such a cause would be spiritually significant in promoting the value of the crucified Christ among the suffering people of Benue. An official recognition of those departed Benue faithful killed during Mass in 2018 will be effective in nourishing the faith of the Benue Christian community, believing that their fellow brothers and sisters are now saints in heaven.
The Benue political catechism teachers must also recognize that Catholic priests in the state and elsewhere in the country have not been spared by killers, even when they only focus on preaching the word of God. It is for no other reason than a dysfunctional political situation that priests in Nigeria are being kidnapped and killed on a regular basis. The present situation has created an enormous distraction, and it is difficult for any preacher to really focus on the ministry of the word of God. It is easy to say that priests are supposed to remain at the altar, but it is difficult to understand at which altar in Nigeria should the priests remain when churches are being attacked and burnt down, and worshippers are being killed during liturgical celebrations. Is it not time for the priest to defend the altar and the place of worship, even by an active engagement in politics? Where are the reputable men in our government who would ensure that what is needed by the people is provided so that the preacher would not be distracted from the ministry of the word of God?
We must admit that in every aspect of existence, Benue State is plunged into civil anarchy, and there is no one-way-traffic method to explain the situation. In this unfortunate calamity, one would expect that the preoccupation of Benue professionals would be on the question of what must be done to get Benue out of the present mess. The amount of energy and time being spent on the canonical sin of Fr. Alia’s partisanship in politics is both politically and spiritually inessential for the rescue mission of Benue State. Authors of the ongoing political catechism of Benue need to consider expanding its volume and edition to include an outline of sound practical resolutions that would end the civil anarchy that has sunk Benue State into poverty, insecurity and underdevelopment. I think, that might help to make the Alia political Catechism of Benue a bit less complicated. And that’s sound Catholic Social Teaching!
Paul Utser writes from
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada