By ONWUASOANYA FCC JONES
I do not think that anyone forces seminarians to take the oaths they take upon their consecration as Priests. Like every organisation, the Catholic Church has guiding principles, which in Ecclesiastical language is called Canon law. Those who are not able to obey it, should not just leave the church, but should be subjected to some legal processes which would make them return everything they have earned by exploiting the name of the Catholic Church.
It is regrettable that a Priest, properly consecrated, would be joining issues with his Bishop in the media over propriety of what should rightly belong to the Church.
A Priest of the Catholic Church has no right to claim ownership of any pin he earned working in the name of the church. Those of them who earn money by working in other professions could keep what they earn from those professions to themselves and their families, but not anything they earn in the course of working as Catholic priests.
The idea of opening ministries by Catholic priests and expecting them to be financially autonomous of Bishopric control is wrong and the Catholic Church should be able to propound rules to stop this from continuing to happen. The more annoying part is when you see some unordained charlatans who claim to be "Catholic Evangelists" deceiving millions of people who are mostly drawn to them because of their purported Catholic affiliation.
Okunaerere can walk away from the Catholic Church for all I care, but the Church must ensure that everything he has acquired in the name of the ministry he set up in the name of the Church is retained by the Church. Because they all belong to the Church and after leaving the Church he should also not be allowed to continue to use the titles given to him by the church, because that would amount to impersonation.
