Your Eminence, John
Cardinal Onaiyekan, 'the Cardinal Atchbishop of
Abuja,Your Grace, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, the
Archbishop of Jos and President, CBCN ', Your Grace,
Archbishop Anthony J.V Obinna, the Archbishop of
Owerri and Metropolitan of the Owerri Ecclesiastical
Province,Your Grace, Archbishop Augustine Kasujja,
the Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria. Your Excellencies, the
Archbishops and Bishops, Superiors Generals and
Provincial Superiors The Secretary General and Staff
of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria .Rt Rev, and
Very Rev. Msgri, Rev. Frs.,Consecrated men and
women of the various orders, Seminarians. His
Excellency, the Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas
Okorocha Other governors, Commissioners and
Government Officials Nde ulo anyi, nde Ahiara
Diocese 'Knights of the Church and their ladies,
C.M.O; C.W.O; CYON; HCA. I would have stood before
you with mixed feelings, If anyone were to have
asked me why, that person would have been the only
person in the whole wide world who did not know the
things that had been happening these last months.
The venue of this ordination also confirms that the
dust has not completely settled. I am well aware of
the volatility of the situation and the enormity of the
work ahead in terms of healing of memory and
reconciliation. These notwithstanding, I am at peace.
I am confident and hopeful. I put my faith in God who
knows how to make all things, including our hearts,
new (Rev. 21:5). Providentially, this ordination is
taking place two days after Pentecost and at the Seat
of Wisdom Seminary. I believe that God wants us to
begin our Episcopal ministry 'at a time when we, as
individual Christians and as Church, are experiencing
a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As my Episcopal
motto "Veni Sancte Spiritus!" shows, I want to carry
out this ministry under the continuous prompting of
the Holy Spirit and see my ministry in terms of
helping my fellow Christians become more available
to the Holy Spirit. The Seat of Wisdom connection
also reminds us of two things: first, the centrality of
our Mother, Mary in the Church and in our ministry.
Providentially still, ours is Maria Mater Ecclesiae
Cathedral. Mary is the Mother of the Church and I
entrust myself and nde ala anyi, nde Ahiara Diocese
niile, to the maternal intercession of Mary, the
Mother of the Church. The second aspect of the Seat
of Wisdom connection is that it is only when we say
Yes to God; when with Mary, we say "let it be done to
me according to your will!" (Lk 1:38) that we will be
overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and that Wisdom,
who is present with God and who understands what
is pleasing in God's sight (Wis 9:9) will take flesh in
our hearts and lives. It is only then that we can also
become seats of wisdom. Here at the Seat of Wisdom
Seminary, my prayer is for the gift of Wisdom for
myself and for nde ebe anyi, nde Ahiara Diocese.
Wisdom is not just native intelligence. Wisdom is also
not got from books. Wisdom is a gift from God and as
Our Mother Mary shows us, we obtain this gift by
saying 'Yes!' unreservedly to God. Saying 'Yes' to God
ordinarily is difficult. Sometimes, God asks things of
us that upturn our expectations. At other times, it is
not the difficulty of what God demands from us that
constitutes the problem but the fact that God has
chosen to speak to us, not directly but through His
Church, which is holy and at the same time clasping
sinners in her bosom. The human element even in
the Church makes people tend to protect themselves
from manipulation by asking the question: how am I
sure that it is God who is asking this or that of me.
This is the challenge of discernment of the Spirit. As
St Paul tells us, we should test and not stifle the
spirit (1 Thess 5: 19). There are canons of
discernment that have been worked out by our
fathers and mothers in the faith. At the centre of
these is obedience of faith. Obedience, Samuel told
Saul, is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat
of rams (1 Sam 15J2). This does not make obedience
any easier. It involves trust that God is leading the
Church and giving up one's will and preferences after
exercising responsibility by joining in the discernment
process. Obedience invites us to learn to say with
Jesus Christ, "not my will but yours be done" (Lk
22:42). On a personal note, saying 'Yes!' to God as
regards my Episcopal appointment was agonizing.
When the Nuncio informed me some time in
December of the Holy Father's intention to appoint
me Bishop of Ahiara, my immediate impulse was to
say 'thanks but. .. No!' Since that would have been
very impulsive and impolite, I requested to be given
time to pray and think about it. These were some of
the things going on in my mind. First, I have spent
approximately fifteen of the twenty one years of my
priestly life working in the chancery and within this
period I have worked with four bishops. I have
experienced first-hand the agonies and travails of
bishops in spite of the seeming glory. I wanted
something different for myself - the quiet life of a
priest. Second, before my conversation with the
Nuncio, I had asked myself why it was taking so long
to appoint a bishop to the See of Ahiara. News were
flying around and I had heard many stories, founded
or unfounded, about what was going on. My instinct
of self-preservation spontaneously inclined me
towards saying 'No!' The third consideration is what I
call inertia the tendency for objects to remain in a
state of rest or uniform motion unless an external
force is made to act on them. I was happy where I
was and with what I was doing. As these were going
through my mind; it also became clear to me that
without any other reasons to give to the Holy Father,
except these self-serving ones, saying 'No!' would
amount to reneging on my understanding of the core
of my priestly existence as total self-gift to God in the
service of the Church. At my priestly ordination, the
Church confirmed that it was, indeed, the voice of the
Lord that I had been hearing since my childhood,
saying, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" It
was the same Church that authenticated my
response, "here I am, Lord, send me" (Is 6:8-9) and
commissioned me to minister in the name of Jesus
Christ and of the Church. It is in and through the
Church that God speaks to our consciences.
Therefore, without any other reasons except the ones
above, I knew that I could not, not say 'Yes!' to the
Holy Father's request. We are all witnesses to the
torrent unleashed by that response. As the storm
raged, what came to my mind was the interaction
between the Prophet Amos and Amaziah, the priest
of Bethel. Amaziah challenged Amos to take himself
off to Judah, his home country, to earn his living
there and prophesy there. Like Amos, I kept telling
myself that it is the Lord who through the Church, the
Body of Christ, took me and sent me on a mission
(Amos 7:10-15). And I am resolved to give my very
best to make this mission a success and to the glory
of God and building up of God's Kingdom. In a lighter
mood, let me confess that now I know first hand the
emotions women go through when they are getting
married. It is like being transplanted from one
location to another with the uncertainties and
adaptation challenges therefrom. The experience is
made worse if the woman notices signs of non-
acceptance by some in her place of marriage. But
many women know that in spite of the roughness of
the beginnings, better days could be ahead and that
the best way to ensure better days ahead is by loving
and serving all irrespective of what has transpired at
the beginning. Indeed, if left to choose between two
unpleasant options, many women would choose to
weather the turbulence at the beginning and then
cruise lifelong in a fulfilling relationship than to start
the marriage in high romance and then fly into
persistent turbulence. I pitch my tent with the first
group. My ordination today is a celebration of my
marriage to the Church of God in Ahiara. Just like
wives married into your families, I have left my
people and have become onye Ahiara Diocese. I
remember a piece of music by the monks of Weston
Priory in the State of Vermont USA which I love so
much. The monks set into song Ruth's response to
Naomi: "wherever you go, I shall go, wherever you
live, I shall live. Your people will be my people, and
your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I shall
die and there I shall be buried." (Ruth 1:16). I know,
for certain, that at the end of my earthly life, if it is
God's will, my bones will rest n'ala Mbaise. So, as the
turbulence raged, I used the time to educate myself
more about my people, our great history – pre-
colonial, colonial and post-colonial, the teeming
Catholic population, the enormous manpower
resource in the general populace and among the
clergy - diocesan as well as religious - and the many
consecrated men and women working in many parts
of Nigeria, Africa and the world at large. Our people
are the greatest witnesses to the universality of the
Church. Our sons and daughters are found almost
everywhere working as priests and religious men and
women and our lay faithful carry Catholicism with
them wherever they are. In the light of the above, I
understand the anger and frustration generated by
my appointment in some sections of the Diocesan
family as fueled by the undeniable fact of the
enormous pool and quality of manpower that we
have in Ahiara Diocese and in our sons in the
religious congregations. Other sons of ours,
especially from outside the diocese, however tapped
into this initial and understandable frustration and
went on a rhetorical over-drive. They spread a lot of
stories and negative propaganda to cause confusion
and misunderstanding among our peaceful people.
Be that as it may, we stand to learn from every event.
The greatest lesson for me and the Church is our
understanding and manner of exercise of ministry as
priests and bishops. We have to go back to the
understanding of ministry as service in love and total
self-gift in imitation of Jesus Christ, the good
Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep. This
has been my understanding and the events of the
past months have sharpened that understanding and
commitment. Our first bishop, our Father in the faith,
late Bishop Victor Adibe Chikwe, according to the
account of many people, lived out this understanding
of ministry simple, humble, approachable and
available to all in love and service and above all,
visionary. With your prayers and support, we shall
uphold his legacy. I will work hard, day and night and
with all my strength, as your Bishop, to make sure
that my people of Ahiara take their rightful place in
all levels of our life in the Church and society. Nde
ebe ke anyi, nde Ahiara Diocese, let me address you
personally. First, ours is the lord of history and He
turns everything to the good of those who love Him
(Rom 8:28). The turbulence of the last months and
even the unsettledness of the situation now should
not leave us gloomy, dejected or fearful. I dare say
that nde Ahiara Diocese anyi love God and God will
surely, through the events of the past months,
strengthen us all in faith, hope and love. I want us to
focus our attention on Jesus. Let us remember that
while walking on the sea, Peter started to sink only
when he took his eyes away from Him and focused on
himself and the roaring waves (Matt 14:27-30). Let us
with courage borne out of faith, entrust ourselves to
Jesus, the Good Shepherd who will, through the
ministry we are beginning today in the power of the
Holy Spirit, gather His sheep put under enormous
stress by the events of the last months. May He
bandage the wounded and lead all to greener pasture
and ultimately back to God the Father, so that God
will be all in all. Second, God, in His inscrutable will,
has given us to each other. As your Bishop, I shall do
my best to be a good shepherd, to respect, love and
serve you in humility. I will do everything within my
means to promote the Gospel and enhance the lives
of our people. Third, may I request your prayers and
your pieces of advice. The Church of God in Ahiara
Diocese is not the bishop's. It is primarily God's and
in the-second place, ours. Let us therefore share the
collective responsibility, each in his or her way, for
building her up and contributing to her mission of
announcing the Good News of salvation. Finally, my
dear people of God, nde ebe ke m, nde Ahiara
Diocese, as St. Paul admonished, let us always be
joyful, pray constantly and give thanks for all things
in the knowledge that this is God's will for us in
Christ Jesus (1 Thess 5:12-18). We can give thanks to
God for events of the last months, painful and
confusing though they may be, by taking seriously the
lessons learnt and keeping ourselves open to the
healing touch of God. After all said and done, we are
brothers and sisters in Christ; sons and daughters of
the same Father; we have one Lord, one faith, one
baptism (Eph 4:5); we are one family - the family of
God. Let us thank all those who were at the centre of
the storm - the Metropolitan and the Bishops of the
Province; the Diocesan Administrator, the priests,
religious and lay faithful of Ahiara Diocese; the
Apostolic Nuncio and the Catholic Bishops'
Conference of Nigeria. You have had sleepless nights,
nerve-wracking and tempestuous sessions in the
effort to address the issues that arose. Many of you
were hit by verbal missiles, had mud slung at them,
were misunderstood, called names and persecuted in
one form or another. Please take it as part of the
difficulties you encountered for the sake of the
Gospel and for which Jesus in the Beatitude promised
eternal recompense. (Matt 5: 10). For those who felt
caught in the eye of the hurricane and are still
overwhelmed by the present challenges to our faith,
we believe that God, in His own time, will give us the
courage to overcome these difficulties. Ours is a
forgiving God. He heals and strengthens us in all
situations. In a special way, I thank the few priests
and the many lay faithful of Ahiara - nde Eze, Knights
of the Church and their Ladies - who have stood with
the Holy Father and the hierarchy of the Church in
Nigeria and had ceaselessly prayed for an end to the
stand-off. Please continue to be shining examples of
discipleship in love. To all the Archbishops and
Bishops, the Rector, staff and seminarians of Seat of
Wisdom Seminary and all who have come here today,
I say, in the name of Ahiara Diocese; a big thank you
and may God lead you back safely to your various
destinations. Please continue to pray for us so that
the Holy Spirit, without whom nothing in the human
being is of any price or of worth and nothing can
harmless be, may, as we pray in the Golden Sequence
of Pentecost Sunday, "Lava quod est sordidum, riga
quod est aridum, sana quod est saucium. Flecte quod
est rigidum, fove quod est frigidum, rege quod est
devium. Da tuis fidelibus, in te confidentibus, sacrum
septenarium" (wash our sinful stains away, refresh
from heaven our barren clay, our wounds and bruises
heal. To Your sweet yoke our stiff necks bow, warm
with your fire our hearts of ice, our wandering feet
recall. Grant to Your faithful, dearest Lord, whose
only hope is your sure word, the sevenfold gifts of
grace). God bless you!
+Peter Ebere Okpaleke
Bishop of Ahiara

Congratulations your Lordship.May God see you through this temporary turbulence to a peaceful and successful bishopric reign Amen.