Success Damian:
Bishop Peter Ebere Okpalaeke of Ahiara Diocese has
resigned his position of the Dioces after a protracted battle with a section of
his members.
Okpalaeke whom Pope Francis had severely defended resigned
after a five-year standoff with some priests and worshippers who rejected him
as their bishop.
A Vatican press release
quoted by its news agency, Agenzia Fides, reads, “Today the Holy Father has
accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Ahiara
(Nigeria), presented by his Exc. Msgr. Peter Ebere Okpaleke, and at the same
time appointed His Exc. Msgr. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, Bishop of Umuahia as
Apostolic Administrator.”
The case of the Vatican
versus the people of the diocese of Ahiara in southeastern Nigeria had become a
rare battle of wills that tested the Papal authority and could set precedence
for future appointments.
A Vatican statement said the Pope had accepted the
resignation of Peter Ebere Okpaleke as bishop of the diocese of Ahiara.
The
Vatican said the position had been declared vacant and that a Papal
administrator would run it for the time being
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