meet a storm of opposition by the leaders and congregation. He was not even allowed to hold mass in the church.
His predecessor, late Victor Adibe Chikwe, came from Mbaise and was accepted by the worshippers, because he was son of the soil.
Pope Francis appointed John O. Onaiyekan apostolic administrator since July 2013. But the crisis has lingered.
Since Okpaleke’s appointment in 2012, the priests and Catholic faithful from Mbaise had insisted they wanted a Bishop of Mbaise extraction.
Nonetheless, Okpaleke was ordained a Bishop on May 21, 2013 in Owerri, the mother Diocese to Ahiara Diocese.
NAN
