Paper presented at the 2022 General Assembly of the Archdiocese of Abuja, Sept 23, 2022 By Rev. Fr. George Ehusani, Executive Director, Lux Terra Leadership Foundation.
After the major scandal and embarrassment that attended the unfortunate massacre of 13 worshipers inside the St. Philip's Church, Ozubulu, Anambra State, on Sunday August 6, 2017, I addressed a memorandum to the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, pleading that they consider it a matter of priority to come up urgently with clear guidelines on what manner of fundraising can be considered suitable in our Churches, and especially within liturgical and paraliturgical settings. It was the case of a young man with no known pedigree, no known qualifications, no antecedents in business, etc; but who came back home from South Africa, throwing money around, single-handedly building a Church and dedicating it with fanfare, and no one asking any questions. It was alleged that many among the clergy and laity in that part of the country knew that the young man could not have made such stupendous wealth in any legitimate manner, and that many even knew for sure that he was a drug baron.

Yet, the Ozubulu case of an alleged drug baron who single-handedly built a Catholic Church and had it dedicated with fanfare, is not an isolated one. These days, rogue public office holders, known treasury looters, corrupt civil servants, and kidnappers, are now celebrated in our Churches, considered Pillars of the Church, decorated with Knighthood, made Patrons of pious societies, and are regularly encouraged to come up to the sanctuary, told to mount the pulpit and given the microphone to address the congregation at Sunday masses, at funeral masses, at wedding ceremonies, and at the anniversaries of priests and religious, etc., in anticipation of some donation towards our Church building or mission house projects.

These days some (so-called powerful) priests have made themselves expert fundraisers, going from diocese to diocese, getting invited across the country to preside over harvest thanksgiving and bazaar, or some other fundraising events, and it is even alleged that some of these fundraiser priests do request for a percentage of the funds theyhelp to raise - using the most unorthodox, irreverent, distasteful, if not nauseating and perhaps sacrilegious methods.

Not long ago, after reading the Gospel passage of the Widow's Mite, I shared my honest impressions with those gathered in Church about the conduct of harvest thanksgivings and bazaars, as well as the conduct of fundraising in general in our Churches these days. I told them how embarrassed and distressed I have become with all the cumbersome announcements and elaborate arrangements that precede harvest each year, whereby for many weeks or even months, precious worship and religious instruction time is expended on preparing Church members for the harvest thanksgiving and bazaar day, and the largest billboards and banners displayed in the parish are often those of the annual harvest, as if annual harvests have become the most central or the most critical liturgical celebrations of the year. In the process however, the sanctity, integrity and solemnity of the traditional Catholic liturgy are often violated, and the vanity and vainglory of the people are not only accommodated but celebrated as if they have become Christian virtues - and all these, just so that more money could be raised for God's work. Sometimes secular comedians as well as fans of such football clubs as Man United and Chelsea or AC Milan, are brought in to ginger the Church members, so they may contribute more.

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