The Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos has slapped an indefinite suspension on a priest, Rev Fr James Anelu who was reported to have banned Igbo songs and expressed some other anti-Igbo sentiments in his local parish of the Church.
The indefinite suspension with effect from Tuesday, February 8, 2022 was communicated in a press statement made available to Pointblanknews.com.
Fr Anelu was reported to have abruptly intervened to stop an Igbo song from being sung during mass last Sunday at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ewu-Owa Gberigbe in Ikorodu and banned Igbo songs and choruses in his Church forthwith.
The priest according to a report warned that the Igbo cannot keep dominating other people outside the Southeast and warned that the situation that supposedly happened in the Benin Diocese when an Igbo, Bishop Akubueze became bishop cannot happen in his parish.In banning the Igbo song, he was quoted to have said that the spirit of God in any place recognizes only languages indigenous to that geographical location leading to abrupt disruption of the service as many people walked out.
However, expressing his reservation over the alleged conduct of the priest in banning Igbo songs, the Archbishop announced an indefinite suspension on Father Anelu over the incident.
In a statement issued by the Archbishop of Lagos, Archbishop Adewale Martins, the Archdiocese said:
“It has been brought to our notice that Rev. Fr. James Anelu, the Priest-in-Charge of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ewu-Owa, Ikorodu, made some completely unacceptable comments about Igbo songs being sung in the Church and unsavoury remarks that do not represent the Catholic Church’s position on common brotherhood of peoples of all tribes and religions.
“For this reason he has been asked to proceed on an indefinite leave of absence to give an opportunity for a through investgaion of all the matters relating to his ministry in the parish. The leave of absence takes effect from Tuesday, 8th February , 2022 till further notice.“We therefore urge all Catholic faithful to hold on to the faith and continue in our worship of God as one big family united in love and not separated by language, culture or race.”
