Following the suspension of the Catholic Church from participating in the national activities of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), a top source disclosed at the weekend that there are moves by the Catholics to form a parallel Christian organisation that would ensure non-politicisation of the body.

The Catholic Church, according to the source, had been uncomfortable with the headship of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor since he succeeded Cardinal John Onaiyekan as CAN President, citing alleged interference from the presidency as the major cause of disunity.

“The Catholics have never been uncomfortable with the Oritsejafor-led CAN, and has therefore resolved to distance itself from the CAN headed Oritsejafor. The Catholics believe that the presidency has captured the Christian body and is therefore becoming an extension of the government and made the body less credible in the eyes of the public,” the source added.

Another highly placed source revealed that the plan by the Catholic to pull out of CAN has been on for a long time, “but the Aritsejafor’s headship has only given them the opportunity to pull out of the association. You know the Catholic have never been comfortable being led, and so it is not surprise that they are kicking against CAN leadership. How comes that out of the five groups that make up CAN, only the Catholic group is not happy?

“Let me tell you, the other four groups are comfortable with the headship of CAN by Oritsejafor. The four groups have expressed explicit confidence on the CAN president, and that ends the matter,” the source said.

Contacted for official comments on the matter, the Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna archdiocese, Most Rev. Matthew Man Oso-Ndagoso, told Blueprint that the decision by the Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria to suspend its activities with CAN national level was

“We are only concerned and working to ensure that the credibility of CAN is restore. In a situation like this, we are left with no option that to make our worries known; we will not allow CAN to be run like a body of one person or a political extension of certain interests. This is our stand; we only made observation and wrote them,” he said.

He also denied that the Catholic Church is set to form a separate body, saying, “We are already a body, there is no such move. It is not true, but you must understand our argument. CAN is a body of churches and there must be a consensus before a stand is taken. There is no way one person will be saying what he feels without it being subjected to all the bodies. There must be general understanding, even in our setting, our president act based on our agreement and consensus.”

He also said that the Catholic Church is not bitter over the headship of CAN national leadership.

“There were many national presidents that were not Catholics, did we protest? It never happens and the secretariat was right inside Catholic Secretariat before Ecumenical Centre became functional. So, it is a lie that we pained by losing leadership,” he noted.

rooftech: poster dont u ve eyes and ears to know what happening

take dat: I believe that other genuine Christian denominations should also pull out of CAN. The current leadership of CAN is gradually introducing schism into the body of Christ through political patronage and dalliance with corrupt persons, makes a big ridicule of what Christianity stands for!

taharqa: Really??...*smh*