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Jan. 26, 2008 The Roman catholic church is planted the world over with obvious grandeur. It has more than one billion people in its fold. Whereever one goes from the city to the remotest rural settlement there is every possibility that one would see a catholic church. In terms of religious organisation and orderliness in hierarchy the catholic church has no rival in the wide world. Led globally by the Pope based in the Vatican in Italy which serves as its global headquarters the catholic church expresses its importance and influence by her sheer great number and some good charitable works toward social solidarity. Like majority of Igbos in eastern Nigeria born in the village I was born a catholic and baptised in the village church. Even though today I go to an evangelical new-generation church where I am based I remain a catholic by birth and whenever I am visiting home, down in the village, I still attend sunday service at the local catholic church where I was baptised and named Christopher. With nostalgia, whenever I visit home and worship in the village church, I remember decades ago when we attended cathechism classes and the first holy communion preceded by confession of sins and a three-day spiritual retreat in another catholic church in another village. It was a powerful expression of some spiritual innocence! The issue of faith is one that deserves every attention albeit on a secular level. The world would have become a huge amoral animal kingdom without some ecumenical rectitude and possibilities. Yet it goes without saying that immorality has not left our planet with christianity and other faiths taking in more believers and expanding in scope and reach. The gospel truth is that man is becoming more bestial and more animalistic in both reason and behaviour. The modern man in a modern world is taking freedom to the extreme and relegating to the background issues of faith and history of his emergence in this vast garden that humanity inhabits which is being systematically destroyed by man and his ambitions and accomplices. Playing the Messiah man glorifies himself in place of God and seeks vainly to possess a third eye! Religion, in the face of man's obscene conducts and attempts at self-immolation seeks to apply certain moralism, reminding every Adam and Eve that try as they may, it is practically impossible for us to run away from our Maker, the divine purpose behind His decision to make us after His graceful image and the reasons why we are here. No matter how each and everyone of us views it -- from negative or positive positions -- divinity cannot be over emphasized. The Roman catholic church has had its ups and downs in different horrible times in history. During the Holocaust the church was accused of playing less dignifying roles which damaged its credibility and questioned the piousness of its hierarchy. As Lucifer, the light bearer, rebelled against God in heaven Martin Luther rebelled against the Vatican and succeeded in splitting the church and establishing the protestant church that has grown in leaps and bounds. Today the catholic church is perhaps the biggest victim of the new generation evangelical movements as members desert its fold to taste a radical Bible-wielding faith elsewhere. Though the Roman catholic church is highly organized some people accuse her of 'worshipping' virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, with the rosary prayers. Again critics charge her of blending archaic tradition with modern trends in ecumenical message dissemination. But in spite of mounting criticisms and desertions the catholic church still boasts of more than a billion followership with huge concentrations in Brazil, Phillipines, Nigeria and Latin America. In Africa and elsewhere outside Europe and America there is no church service every sunday that is not filled to full capacity. In the Catholic church to be ordained a priest there is a strict academic and theological processes to follow and accomplish without compromise. That prepares a would-be reverend father for the life of chastity and celibacy which are mandatory for every priest. But many of these ordained priests, bishops and what have you observe this celibate imposition more on the breach. Tales abound of disobedience of this particularly difficult cannon law. Even some people out of ignorance or uncharitable criticism laced with bad faith often reach for the conclusion that sisters in the catholic fold are meant to be 'wives' to the priests to put their manhood in check. One doubts if there is any reason to believe this unsubstantiated charge. Yet when I was in the village a certain 'brother' aspiring and theologically preparing himself for priesthood was once accused of having an amorous relationship with a virgin village girl in the community church choir. The whiff of the sex scandal was gotten by many but it was quickly subdued or neutralized to avoid any embarrassment and possible sanction from higher quarters. Today the 'brother' has since been ordained and posted outside our shores. Few days to the dawn of the new year 2008 "The Sun" newspaper in Lagos reported sensationally of how a girl (Ebele Eze) claimed she was put in a family way and abandoned by a certain priest (Patrick Okon) in Lagos. The girl exposed their amorous liaison which made her pregnant. But she failed to say why and how she could have been the devil's agent used to try and compromise the priest as he laboured to keep his 'caged' libido in check. When she was 'enjoying' the 'sacred pistol' one wonders what was going through her mind! The priest is human, celibacy or not! The girl could have seduced him into having carnal knowledge of her! And few years back a Kenyan Archbishop who sighted and fell in love with an Asian girl went the whole hog overtly marrying her in a blaze of kleiglights. In doing so the Archbishop went against the wise counsels of the Vatican authorities preferring to satisfy his mundane cravings. Even threats of ex-communication did not deter the high-ranking catholic bishop from pursuing his heretical course. Many cases like his abound including the charges of pedophile and child sexual abuses levelled against the ordained especially in the West. In America many damaging suits have been filed and huge compensations paid to the complainants! The catholic church is unravelling itself as far as celibacy is concerned with many priests and bishops probably 'dying' in silence and silently asking probing questions over the appropriateness of the celibate doctrine. The gospel truth worth saying here is that the cannon law of celibacy of the catholic church has been overtaken by historical facts and events besides revolution in the concept of christianism around the world. And the rigidity of the Holy Sea to address the issue does not help matters. The sooner celibacy is officially annulled or at least modified as a matter of choice for potential priests the better for the over-all health of catholicism. ------------ About the author: Sunny Chris Okenwa is a U-K contributor based in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire. Email: soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. 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