By James Tamba Lebbie
That poor Vatican State. It is still licking its wounds inflicted some eight months ago by a small group of “rebel” and “recalcitrant” priests in this impoverished tiny West African country called Sierra Leone.
But the Vatican is indeed a State, even if its overt mandate is to run a transnational religious conglomerate. And that a charm diplomatic overture of a religious nature is nurturing in the Diocese of Makeni in response to the January rebellion, is not all together surprising.
The Holy See has sent Reverend Father Natalio Paganelli, former Xavarian Superior of the Diocese of Makeni as caretaker bishop of that Diocese with a clear mandate: to facilitate a smooth transition from former Bishop Biguzzi to Bishop-in-waiting, Henry Aruna, whose appointment early this year sparked a turbulent schism within the Church in Makeni. Whether Father Paganelli will succeed in breaking the stalemate will be a subject for another piece. And what is also not clear is whether the Vatican will not succumb to the demands of the “rebel” priests and laity in Makeni if the stalemate continues.
That said, some of their grievances are legitimate even if wrongly expressed, in my estimation, some of which I have tried to summarize below.
The laity in Makeni notes that for the past fifty years, no local representative from the Church in Makeni has held a senior position of the rank of a Bishop even though it has many qualified and competent priests within the Diocese. In addition, there was no geopolitical consideration in the appointment of Father Aruna as Bishop of Makeni in spite of the fact that the Diocese of Makeni has many qualified priests. Further, that even though the Catholic Church is said to be universal there should be diversity. However, the composition of the Church’s hierarchy in Sierra Leone is anything but diverse. In their judgment, the Bishops have ethicized the composition of the Church’s hierarchy. Moreover, that Sierra Leone’s representation at the Inter-territorial Bishops Conference, which made the recommendation through the Apostolic Nuncio in Liberia, is not diversified. It is made up largely of south-easterners. Additionally, the appointment of the Bishop came at a sensitive time when the country is politically polarized along ethnic and regional lines.
The laity in Makeni also pointed out that even though the information about Fr. Aruna’s appointment leaked ahead of the announcement, the Vatican did not cancel its decision as it had done in previous occasions. They said a case in point was the cancellation of the appointment of the late Fr. Rocco Serra, whose appointment as Bishop of the Diocese of Makeni was leaked.
In a subsequent letter written to the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop George Anthonysamy the laity in Makeni also took offense over an interview granted to the BBC by Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles of Freetown about his use of languages like “rebellious and recalcitrant priests” while referring to clergy in Makeni. They also noted in the letter that even though the Church was no respecter of geopolitical divide according to the Archbishop’s comment on BBC, the Vatican should also be sensitive to the local geopolitical realities of countries, cultures and peoples in which the Church found itself.
In sum the grievances and concerns were succinctly captured and logically argued. And the following are the facts in their argument: Indeed, unlike other dioceses in the country, the Diocese of Makeni has produced no Bishop in over its 50 years of existence. And that the composition of Sierra Leone’s representation at the Catholic Bishops Conference is from the south-eastern part of the country. And that the appointment of Father Aruna as Bishop of Makeni - which information was leaked ahead of the official announcement - was not cancelled contrary to the Catholic tradition.
The rest of the grievances are made up of personal judgments, which could be flawed. But while I am in sincere sympathy with the laity in Makeni over the perceived marginalization of their local priests, I would have loved them to express those grievances in a manner required of Catholics. And for that same reason, I still stand to condemn the nature of their reaction, which in my view is anything but Catholic. My condemnation is informed by the very teachings of the Church and my Catholic faith, which I have doubted since that incident.
Among the many virtues I was taught about the Catholic Church is that it is universal; hence the creed: “the one holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church”. This means, the Catholic Church everywhere is considered one and the same irrespective of race, nationality or ethnic background. For the Catholic Church in Makeni to call one of their own “an outsider” is indeed, incomprehensible.
Moreover, like millions of others, the Church taught me the virtue of obedience, which is in fact one of the vows of priesthood. In this regard, the revolt by the laity, with the apparent support of some priests should be considered an act of rebellion against the Church and by extension, the Papacy and therefore a violation of the oath of obedience taken by these concerned priests during their ordination.
But Catholic teachings aside, the Church is seen as the “opium of the oppressed”, a solace for the marginalized and the light for those that are lost. And when the Church degenerates into a situation where it has to settle its scores through violent resistance, the consequence could be the loss of its moral high ground to perform its moral teachings in society. And while the Church is an integral part of society, which some have used as justification for such a reaction, it is nonetheless seen by many as the moral voice to speak truth to power. And when the Church, which is supposed to provide spiritual guidance for its adherents gets embroiled in a secular struggle apparently for material gains, one begins to wonder whether the Church has not lost its moral compass.
Besides these religious implications, the rebellion in Makeni has put to the fore the vexed and uncomfortable issue of Sierra Leone’s political polarization. And like the laity pointed out in their letter to the Indian-born Papal Nuncio based in Liberia, the appointment of the Bishop came at a sensitive time – a time when the country is politically polarized along ethnic and regional lines. One is left to opine therefore that while there are religious overtones for the rebellion in Makeni, the political undertones are too visible to ignore.
And as a Catholic, I should hasten to point out again that the resistance to the Papal appointment is antithetically juxtaposed to the projects and programmes of the Synod of African Bishops, which among other things calls for dialogue and enculturation among Catholics and people of other faiths.
And if Catholics cannot bridge the divided that is eating deep into the social fabric of the society, what chance exists for a sustained inter-denominational and inter-religious dialogue in Sierra Leone?
And the irony about the clamour for a local Bishop that hails from the Diocese of Makeni is interesting even if absurd. The laity rejected a Sierra Leonean Bishop but they have no problem with Father Natalio Paganelli, an Italian now working as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Makeni. And they will continue to see nothing wrong in having an Italian bishop while continuing to perceive a local bishop that is not from Makeni as “unacceptable”. In my judgment, whether Father Paganelli will succeed in his mission will be contingent on the outcome of the November polls. Mark my words.
