Pope Francis on Wednesday, June 3, appointed John Cardinal Onaiyekan, as the Apostolic Administrator of Ahiara Diocese.
An Administrator (Sede Vacante) serves as a caretaker until a newly chosen diocesan bishop takes possession of the diocese.
According to Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Ralph Madu, the Secretary to the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, who confirmed the appointment, it was made ad nutum Santae Sedes, which means that the Cardinal will be accountable to the Holy See regarding ecclesiastical activities in Ahiara diocese. His appointment puts an end to the function of Msgr. Theo Nwalo as the administrator of the diocese. The appointment took effect by 12noon, (11am Roman time) on Wednesday, July 3, 2013. The Cardinal has already met with the presbyterium of the catholic diocese of Ahiara.
The appointment of Cardinal Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja as the Administrator of Ahiara followed the controversy generated by the appointment of Fr. Peter Okpaleke as the Bishop of Ahiara by the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in December 2012.
It would be recalled that when news of Bishop Okpaleke’s appointment was made known to the people of Mbaise, a section of the clergy and laity took to the streets in protest against the decision.
They were angered that an Mbaise priest was not appointed to replace late Bishop Chikwe.
Father Okpaleke however was ordained bishop of Ahiara on May 21, but the ordination took place at Seat of Wisdom Seminary in Owerri Archdiocese amid heavy security.
The appointment “sends a very reprehensible signal about the status and reputation of about 500 Catholic priests that trace their origins to the soil of Mbaise, a diocese that has been globally acclaimed as the Ireland of Nigeria,” the priests said in a statement.
Some priests and lay protesters saw Cardinal Francis Arinze, the retired prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, who comes from Anambra State as the force behind the appointment of Father Okpaleke. Cardinal Arinze also comes from Anambra State.
The Holy See has not announced Bishop Okpaleke’s resignation from his see. Typically, the Pope appoints an apostolic administrator when a see is vacant (sede vacante), but a sede plena appointment is not unprecedented: Archbishop Joseph Miot served as Apostolic Administrator of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, from 1997 to 2008, while Archbishop François-Wolff Ligondé remained Archbishop, and Bishop Thomas Olmsted was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Gallup in 2008 while Bishop Donald Pelotte remained diocesan bishop.
Founded in 1987, Ahiara Diocese was governed by Bishop Victor Chikwe, from its inception until his death in 2010.

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