The Diocese of Ahiara ( la, Ahiaran(a)) is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

ecclesiastical territory or

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

located in

Ahiara Ahiara is a city in Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria. The city stands about 16 miles between Owere and Umuahia. It was the location of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu's Ahiara Declaration during the Nigerian Civil War. It is the location of the Catholic d ...

in the region of

Mbaise Mbaise is a region in Imo State in southeastern Nigeria. In the heart of Igboland, the region includes several towns and cities. It is a group of indigenous clans, connected by intermarriage. With a population density of over 1,000 people per squ ...

in Imo State,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. It is a suffragan diocese in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Owerri.

History

* 18 November 1987: Established as Diocese of Ahiara from the Diocese of Owerri

Appointment controversy 2012-2018

The clergy and laity of the diocese refused to accept the bishop

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

had appointed in 2012 as their ordinary,

Peter Ebere Okpaleke Peter Ebere Okpaleke (born 1 March 1963) is a Nigerian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Bishop of Ekwulobia since 29 April 2020. He was appointed Bishop of Ahiara in 2012 and consecrated in 2013, but after the local clergy and laity ...

, because he was not of the

ethnic group or chosen from among the local priests. Okpaleke was consecrated a bishop on 21 May 2013, but he was not installed in Ahiara. On 3 July 2013,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed Cardinal

John Onaiyekan John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan (born 29 January 1944) is a Nigerian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Abuja from 1994 to 2019 and was made a cardinal in 2012. He has served as president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, ...

, Archbishop of Abuja, as Apostolic Administrator. On 8 June 2017, Pope Francis, after receiving a delegation from the Diocese, gave all the diocesan priests and deacons 30 days to personally write to the Vatican pledging obedience to the pope and accepting Okpaleke. Those who failed to write would be suspended ''a divinis'', which would prohibit a priest or deacon from administering the sacraments, save for a priest hearing the confession of a person in danger of death, and would be removed from their posts. He had considered suppressing the diocese, but decided against that. On 8 July, it was reported that while the letter of apology was sent, Okpalaeke's appointment was still rejected by the local priests who insisted that the Holy See was enforcing racial discrimination in the country by hiring outsider priests to become bishops. On 22 July 2017, Pope Francis agreed to respond through emissaries to the individual priests protesting Okpaleke's appointment. On 14 February 2018, Okpaleke submitted his resignation to Cardinal

Fernando Filoni Fernando Filoni (born 15 April 1946) is a cardinal prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who serves as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2011 to 2 ...

, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, and Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi,

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international ...

to Nigeria. He wrote: "I do not think that my apostolate in a diocese where a group of priests and lay faithful are very ill disposed to have me in their midst would be effective." On 19 February 2018, Pope Francis accepted Okpaleke's resignation and on 5 March 2020 he appointed Okpaleke bishop of the newly created Diocese of Ekwulobia. Okpaleke was installed in that position on 29 April.

Special churches

*The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

is Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral in the episcopal see of

Leadership

;Bishops * Victor Adibe Chikwe (18 November 1987 – 16 September 2010) *

Peter Okpaleke Peter Ebere Okpaleke (born 1 March 1963) is a Nigerian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Bishop of Ekwulobia since 29 April 2020. He was appointed Bishop of Ahiara in 2012 and consecrated in 2013, but after the local clergy and laity ...

(7 December 2012 – 19 February 2018) ;Apostolic Administrators *

(3 July 2013 – 19 February 2018) *

Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji (born January 13, 1952 in Naze, Nigeria) is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Owerri Archdiocese. In 2022, he was appointed as the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). He followed on from the previ ...

(19 February 2018 – present)

References

External links