Church speaks on Catholic priest who reportedly wedded his lover

Catholic priests voluntarily submit themselves to an oath of celibacy which forbids them from sex and marriage.

The Catholic Diocese of Abakakili in Ebonyi State has spoken on the report that its priest recently wedded his lover in the state.

The report

There was a report on social media suggesting that a Catholic priest, Jude Obasi, allegedly got married to his lover on 25 May in Abakakili, the state capital.

The wedding, according to the report, took place at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, Abakakili.     The priest reportedly hails from Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state.     The report was accompanied by a photograph showing the priest and his supposed lover in a wedding dress   The clergyman, who was dressed in his full priestly attire, was seen holding the bride’s hand in a place filled with guests in a set of canopies.

He and the unidentified bride were all smiles in the photograph.

The report has since elicited several reactions with many applauding the cleric for taking the bold decision against the church principles.

Catholic priests voluntarily submit themselves to an oath of celibacy which forbids them from sex and marriage.

Catholic church speaks

But reacting in a statement on Monday, the Diocesan Chancellor, Matthew Opoke, refuted the report.

Mr Opoke, a Catholic priest, said no priest goes by such name within the diocese and that the person in the trending photograph “does not resemble the face of any priest” in the diocese.

The chancellor said there is no priest with such name either in the diocese or from Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state.

He further said the diocese does not have any place called Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, Abakakili and no similar event took place in the area within the period.

“It goes without saying that the publication…is fake,” Mr Opoke said.

“It was possibly fermented by a blogger who wants to gain much traffic on their social media handles,” he added.

What we found

Some residents of Afikpo North Local Government Area who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES rehashed what the diocese earlier said that no priest and church have names mentioned in the report.

“Nothing like that happened around here,” one of the residents, who asked not to be named, said.

The resident, who is also a journalist, added that he had been receiving calls from people outside Nigeria enquiring about the incident.

An independent investigation by PREMIUM TIMES found that the report was false and a case of misinformation.

The photograph which accompanied the report first appeared on news blog in October 2023.The photograph is that of a Kenyan Catholic priest, Edwin Gathang’i Waiguru, who got married to his long-term friend, Margaret Wanjira Githui.

Kenya is a country in East Africa.

Mr Waiguru, according to Kenyan media, had defected to a Roman Catholic splinter group known as the Catholic Charismatic Church