INTRODUCTION
Imagine a world in darkness; think of a society that lacked proper expressive skills, where ideas, feelings, emotions and wants could not be communicated but laid trapped in the inner recesses of our minds. I am quite sure many of us here would agree with me that such a world, such a human habitat, if ever conceived or existed, would be no better than a town crier striking a gong with a leaf – soundless, lifeless! Everyone would have been an island cut off from reality, non-existent.
Imagine a world without the religious; imagine the religious in the world without a voice, everything becomes chaotic or perhaps in a state of anarchy and doom. Hence, the consecrated persons need to speak out in the face of societal moral decadence in politics especially in Nigeria where abnormalities appeared to be the normal. But how can we do this, when we are limited by ecclesiastical laws through the code of canon law.
Yet, the society look unto us for justice; Catholics and non Catholics in Nigeria want us to save them from the political disorder. If we do not act, then posterity will surely ask us. Rev Fr Angelo Unegbu in his article THE SILENCE OF THE PROPHET (The Stance of the Church on our Present Situation in Nigeria asked the following pertinent questions:
What was the reaction of the Consecrated persons when governance was commercialized which led to corruption, socio-economic disorder, hunger and untimely death of many citizens?
What was the stand of the Consecrated persons when the people could no longer choose their leaders because their votes never counted, especially as witnessed in the 2019 elections?
Posterity will forever tell people the reaction of the Consecrated persons to the atrocities of the herdsmen in Benue state and other parts of the country. They will want to know what we said about the incarceration of political prisoners against court order.
My sanctified sisters, these unbiased researchers will ransack all the archives to find out the content of the communiquès of our conference, the homilies of religious priests, the agenda of our family council meetings in various communities, the content of our ecclesiastical newspapers and journals, the reasons for our emergency meetings during these ungodly periods. In areas where we spoke, they will place our words side by side with our actions.
They will find out that some Church authorities criticized the evils of our political leaders. This will make them curious in finding out why we as consecrated persons remained silent.
They will want to know the relationship between the Consecrated persons and political leaders. How often did they meet or write one another? What were the major points they discussed?
When they must have gathered their points, books will be written about this generation and they will judge and assess our actions and inactions. They will mention names of superiors, dates, places and circumstances. Most of these would be factual, some would be speculative. One of those books may be captioned: The Effects of the Silence of the Consecrated persons in the Face of Evil in politics Practiced in Nigeria. What a book. If we don’t want this to happen to us then we must do something about it.
But what is the position of the church? What should be the relations of the Church with politics? How far may church and state mutually affect each other? An intelligent answer to such questions must spring from knowledge of the history of the church's relations with political movements in the past.
When the Roman persecution of Christianity came to an end under Constantine I with the Edict of Milan, and the Orthodox Catholic Christian faith became the favoured religion of the Roman Empire, Christians were presented with issues they never before had to confront. Could a Christian ruler legitimately wage war? If Christians were discouraged in Scripture from entering litigation against one another, how were they supposed to function as officers within a judicial system? What civil rights were to be afforded to non-Christians or to heterodox Christians in a civil commonwealth governed by the orthodox faithful?
Augustine of Hippo was one religious figure who confronted these issues in The City of God; in this work, he sought to defend Christians against pagan charges that the abandonment of official sponsorship of pagan worship had brought civil and military calamities upon the Roman Empire by the abandoned pagan deities. (Pecknold, 2010) Augustine sought to reaffirm that the City of God was a heavenly and spiritual matter, as opposed to an earthly and political affair. The City of God is contrasted with, and in conflict with, the city of men; but the City of God's eventual triumph is assured by divine prophecy.
The Western-Roman Empire faded out of existence in the late 5th century. At this time, both popes and emperors recognized that church and state worked together de facto in ruling medieval Europe. Secular rulers would support missionary efforts in order to enlarge their realms. Bishops and Abbots were not only church leaders, but often also large land-owning princes and thus vassals of secular feudal lords. The line dividing church and state interests was not always clear.
THE POSITION OF THE CHURCH IN NIGERIA ON POLITICS
The Catholic Church in Nigeria clearly stated in the August 7, 2018 directives, of the CBCN that we remained apolitical and does not support or subscribe to any political party. Our concern is for a peaceful electoral process seen to be free, fair, credible and just, and a democratic governance that guarantees peace, justice, equity, among others.
“On behalf of the conference, we wish to reiterate our obligation as teachers of faith and morals, to educate the faithful on their role in the political life of the country, mindful of the present charged political atmosphere of Nigeria. With the ongoing campaigns of political parties gathering momentum, we deemed it necessary to again remind all priests and religious to keep to the position of the church on the issue of non-partisan politics.”
However, Benedict XVI, in his encyclical Africae Munus says “there is no doubt that the building of a just social order is part of the competence of the political sphere. Yet one of the tasks of the Church consists in forming upright consciences receptive to the demands of justice, so as to produce men and women willing and able to build this just social order by their responsible conduct. Therefore, the cries and anguish of our people affect us much deeper as religious; hence we shall not fold our arms.
What can we do?
Pope Paul VI, in his Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio aims at closing the widening gap that exists between privileged individuals and poor ones; especially between wealthy nations and under-developed ones. What we are called to do is stated clearly by the bishop’s conference communiqué above “Our concern is for a peaceful election process seen to be free, fair, credible and just, and a democratic governance that guarantees peace, justice, equity, among others. “On behalf of the conference, we wish to reiterate their obligation as teachers of faith and morals, to educate the faithful on their role in the political life of the country” We can begin as election observers making sure that the process is free and fair, crying out when we notice malpractice before, during and after the elections. Dear sisters our schools could become a place of social change if we teach our children from this early stage to respect human dignity they will grow to become leaders of tomorrow. Our hospitals are not left out. Dear sisters our phones preach louder on social media if we annex it well.
With the tension that exists in governance today in Nigeria ranging from the conflicts between the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary to electoral malpractices, can we say that those who made the laws for the federation were God’s instruments akin to Moses through whom the Ten Commandments were given to the Ancient Israel? Definitely the answer is in the negative.
We as Consecrated persons ought to make a difference in a divided world. According to Fr. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua, the minister of God who is conscious of a divine vocation must be a voice of the voiceless. When Saint Oscar Romero knew that his life was in danger for rendering true service as Archbishop of El Salvador, he said to his baptized lay faithful, “If some day they take the radio station away from us, if they close down our newspaper, if they do not let us speak, if they kill all our priests and the Bishops too, and you are left, a people without priests, each one of you must be God’s microphone, each one of you must be a messenger, a prophet. The Church will always exist as long as there is one baptized person. Those who are truly responding to their divine vocation are ready for the supreme sacrifice like the apostles. May we all as Consecrated persons uphold the banner of divine truth and justice!
May I share with you some resolution reached by the Nigeria catholic diocesan priests association (NCDPA) at the end of her 32nd annual general meeting (AGM) held at catholic social centre, independence way, Kaduna concerning the state of our Nation.
In strong terms, we call on all pastoral agents (Religious) to be more effective witnesses to the Gospel of Christ through proper and trustworthy governance of the goods of the Church and those of the state entrusted to their care. They should also be prophetic in rebuking poor governance because betrayal of the truth is betrayal of the kingdom of God and its mission.
All Pastoral agents should be conscious of their self-governance through health consciousness in order to effectively serve the Church, the nation and the People of God.
Security and good governance is our collective responsibility. A secure mind assures us of good governance, and good governance assures us of a healthier state. We therefore call for more security consciousness, knowing that security is holistic and transcends mere military presence.
We propose a sound synergy between the Pastoral Agents and the Laity for apt and effective governance in Nigeria. We propose that they should be administered with love and care. And like St. John Bosco, we call on all Pastoral Agents to proffer ways by which from time to time, youth could be pulled towards the Catholic Social Teachings.
The Prayers for Nigeria in Distress and Against Bribery and Corruption in Nigeria should be intensified.
CONCLUSION
In the opening sentence of Gaudium et Spes the Fathers of the Vatican Council II note: “The joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the men of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well.” Because of this age long mission of the church, populorum progressio calls on the Religious, clergy and the laity to propose authentic morality, justice and equity, which will in turn scheme integral development of persons and nations.
The church therefore, is an extraordinary outstanding agent of development. Hence, in her evangelical characteristics, she will always stand to help the poor, promote justice and common good. The common good is a way to peace in which one does not see the other as mere instrument to be exploited. The mission of the church in the world is neither political, social or economic yet, she cannot over look them in as much as they directly or indirectly contribute to the realization of her mission. Thus, the church’s interest in social cum political matters is a product of a careful reflection in line with faith, which aims at bringing every principle towards the fulfillment of the gospel messages. This message is to bring peace, development here on earth and finally peace with God hereafter.
My Evangelized Evangelizers the Mother Church would like to walk alongside corrupt politicians, in the ghetto of Ajegunle, on the street of Allen Avenue at midnight, In the Sambisa forest of Boko Haram? Yes! She will like also to walk alongside the sinners, Saints in the church, among the Muslims, Traditional worshipers even the so called atheist. Her maternal hands will like to touch the poor, the lame, the sick and everyone handicapped in one way or other. The question is who will be her feet? Who will be her hand? The answer is with you my dearest religious.
Rev. Fr. Lawrence. O. Ogundipe SDV.
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