By Godwin-Maria Utuedoye,
One week of prayer in atonement and reparation following, the desecration of the Holy Ghost Cathedral Enugu, by followers of one of the diocesan priest, Rev. Fr. Camillus Ejike Mbaka was on Thursday, May 7, announced by the Local Bishop, Most Rev. Callistus Onaga.
“On 5th May, the followers of Fr. Camillus Ejike Mbaka of the Adoration Ministry Enugu, Nigeria violently broke into the Diocesan Cathedral Church and desecrated the Holy Altar of sacrifice,” Bishop Callistus Onaga of Enugu said in a May 6 statement on Thursday.
“Over and above this, they brutally vandalized the Diocesan Bishop’s residence, the Cathedral parish house and the secretariat building complex.”
Fr. Mbaka, 54, is the founder of Adoration Ministry. He was ordained in 1995. His ministry’s Facebook page has more than 2,600 followers.
In the statement addressed to every parish, chaplaincies, and religious houses in the Diocese of Enugu, the bishop described the May 5 incident as a “Heinous Act” against the sanctity of the Church and called on the people of God in the diocese to repent.
“I hereby declare and call for a one-week union of prayer in reparation and atonement for this heinous act against our central place of worship and the sanctity of the Church,” said Bishop Onaga.
He added: “The prayer begins from Friday, May 7 to Friday, May 14. Every Parish, chaplaincy and Religious community in the Diocese is obliged to participate in this Holy activity.”
The bishop said that in addition to traditional May devotions such as daily Benediction, the people will be required to recite five decades of the rosary, perform the Act of Reparation to the Most Blessed Sacrament, and read and reflect upon passages from Psalms 50 and Psalm 22.
Bishop Onaga called for prayers for the diocese and urged the people to remain calm during what he has described as a challenging moment.
“I enjoin you to remain sober and to keep the Diocese in payer. With Divine assistance and grace, we shall overcome this challenging moment,” the bishop said.
Fr. Mbaka resurfaced hours after his followers stormed the episcopal residence demanding to know the priest’s whereabouts, as they thought he had gone missing.