Rev. Fr.James Anelu, the Catholic Priest of The Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ewu-Owa Gberingbe in Ikorodu ,Lagos has been placed under suspension for banning Igbo choruses in his Parish.
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Alfred Martin’s, in a ‘disclaimer’ notice ,directed the Priest to proceed on an indefinite leave of absence.
Fr. Anelu has been reported to have banned Igbo songs and choruses in his Parish.Hi reasons for this was that the excesses of Ndigbo must be curtailed.
It was gathered that Rev. Fr. Anelu angrily stopped a soul-lifting chorus during the ‘second collection’.According to him,’the Igbos cannot keep dominating other people in his Parish’
He allegedly cited the case of his Benin Diocese where Igbo dominated to the point of becoming the Bishop,allegedly claiming that the spirit of God recognises only the geographical languages of the parish.
Announcing the suspension,Martin’s in the letter dated February 7th said ,”It has been brought to our notice that Rev Fr. James Anelu, the Priest in charge of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Enu-Owa,Ikorodu, made some completely unacceptable comments about Igbo songs being sung in the church and unsavoury remarks that do not represents the catholic church’s position on the common brotherhood of people’s of all tribes and religions.
“For this reasons,he has been asked to proceed on an indefinite leave of absence to give an opportunity for a thorough investigation of all the matters relating to his Ministry on the Parish.
The leave of absence takes effect from February 8,2021,till further notice.
“We therefore,urge all Catholic faithful to hold on to the faith and continue in worship of God ass one big family United and not separated by language,culture or race”.