Initially,
I did not want to write this. For one, I never believed it when people
said that while preaching in your church you said all Catholics will go
to hell. That you did not stop there, you even went as far as calling
Pope Francis an anti-Christ and a friend of Satan’s. And that the Church
is a counterfeit church set up by Satan.
I still thought it a waste of my time because the organisation is too big to be shaken by a small time pastor, until you admitted the same statements in an interview in The Punch of Saturday, January 18, 2014.
Since Pope Francis brought in the new breath of life to the Catholic faith he has courted friends and enemies alike. And such enemies will not stop at anything to bring down the man of God. All sorts of writers and bloggers are on the Internet churning out whatever comes to their imagination. But if you had taken your time to crosscheck facts, you would have known that the statement credited to Francis never was. It was only a satire from a blogger that went viral. The satirist wrote a caveat which many failed to read.
Whenever we are ignorant of anything we create false impressions in our mind. But as the scriptures say “there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is destruction”.
I know people often say Catholics worship idols because of the images that Catholics use. In the interview, you also added the usual one of worshiping Mary. But if you read the same bible which people like to quote out of context, you will know that in Exodus 25:18-22; 26:1,31 - God commanded the Israelites to make the image of a golden cherubim. In Num. 21:8-9 - God also told the Israelites to make the bronze serpent. Even in Kings 6:23-36; 7:27-39; 8:6-67 – Solomon’s temple had statues of cherubim and images of cherubim, oxen and lions. God never condemned these images that were used to worship him. The world stood still when the revered Nelson Mandela’s statue was unveiled. People, and tourists flock to see it, almost deifying him. Today, even atheists keep the picture of Mother Theresa in their homes.
And for Mary, we will not stop to honour her as we would honour anyone who is outstanding. Some football and music fans have given more honour to their idols. But any right thinking person will honour a woman whom God’s son took her flesh. It is proper to fulfill God’s words through angel Gabriel that she is “full of grace”, and that the Lord is with her. And Christ himself made us adopt her as our Mother when he spoke to Saint John on the cross. In Mary, perhaps, as a writer said, God the Father has a feminine side.
The contributions of the Catholic Church to the world cannot be quantified. Western civilization today owes a lot to the Catholic Church. Think of culture, art and philosophy. The Easter and Christmas holidays are Catholic heritages. Pope Gregory XIII’s Gregorian calendar is what is used internationally as the civil calendar; time is measured by the West from the date taken as the birth of the Church’s founder, Jesus of Nazareth: the Year One AD (Anno Domini). The Catholic Church fought against slavery, human sacrifice, abortion, incest, polygamy and infidelity in marriage.
But for me, it is not so much what you said about Catholics as the effect such utterance can have on your person. Unless your presidential ambition is a joke, no right thinking person who has his eyes set on 2015 will want to play with votes. As they say in politics, every vote counts, not to talk of the votes of Nigerian Catholics, and perhaps Nigerian Christians and non-Christians in general who have come to love Pope Francis. By your actions alone, you have committed political suicide even before INEC blew the whistle. Like many Nigerians, I still doubt the seriousness of your political ambition.
In America, serious politicians tread carefully when it comes to Catholics and votes, because they understand that faith matters in politics. They are careful with certain topics because though Catholics may be liberal with the economy, they are conservative when it comes to abortion, contraceptives and homosexuality. Then imagine abusing their Pontiff towards an election year! Votes from Catholics helped make people like Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, John Kennedy, Bill Clinton and even Barack Obama win the U.S. presidential elections. And this list is not exhaustive.
In America’s politics, even the job of the College of Electors in deciding who becomes president has been likened to what is obtained in the Roman Catholic Church of the College of Cardinals that select the Pope. It does not really matter what you call Pope Francis. Christ himself said if He was called the king of demons what would they not call his servants.
I still believe you can retrace your steps. And so, I offer you the chance of being with us, so that you will be for us, and not against us. I enjoin you to embrace Catholicism. It is nothing to be ashamed about. Remember, pride goeth before a fall. Wisdom will be given to you freely, as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit at the Sacrament of Confirmation. And, there are still six more precious gifts in addition to that if only you will take the bold step. Don’t be afraid, Saint Paul did worse in prosecuting Catholics before you. You haven’t even got your hands stained with blood. But you know how Paul got converted and the height he reached with serving Christ whom he fought against.
If you have been divorced twice it doesn’t matter to us. Perhaps you were not meant to be married! This is an attribute of Catholic priests.
It is never too late. The Catholic seminary will be kind to you. But I must let you know that there is no crash course here. It is at least 8 plus X years before ordination. And X can be anything! The Catholic Church awaits you still with open arms if you would take this leap of faith. Are you worried about your church and “flock”? Don’t you worry about that, it will save you your succession plan headache. And as you know, God works in mysterious ways. And remember, this is a message inspired by love and compassion. You needn’t come in sack cloth and ashes, come in your designer suit and shoes, we will still accept you.
Dr Cosmas Odoemena
I still thought it a waste of my time because the organisation is too big to be shaken by a small time pastor, until you admitted the same statements in an interview in The Punch of Saturday, January 18, 2014.
Since Pope Francis brought in the new breath of life to the Catholic faith he has courted friends and enemies alike. And such enemies will not stop at anything to bring down the man of God. All sorts of writers and bloggers are on the Internet churning out whatever comes to their imagination. But if you had taken your time to crosscheck facts, you would have known that the statement credited to Francis never was. It was only a satire from a blogger that went viral. The satirist wrote a caveat which many failed to read.
Whenever we are ignorant of anything we create false impressions in our mind. But as the scriptures say “there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is destruction”.
I know people often say Catholics worship idols because of the images that Catholics use. In the interview, you also added the usual one of worshiping Mary. But if you read the same bible which people like to quote out of context, you will know that in Exodus 25:18-22; 26:1,31 - God commanded the Israelites to make the image of a golden cherubim. In Num. 21:8-9 - God also told the Israelites to make the bronze serpent. Even in Kings 6:23-36; 7:27-39; 8:6-67 – Solomon’s temple had statues of cherubim and images of cherubim, oxen and lions. God never condemned these images that were used to worship him. The world stood still when the revered Nelson Mandela’s statue was unveiled. People, and tourists flock to see it, almost deifying him. Today, even atheists keep the picture of Mother Theresa in their homes.
And for Mary, we will not stop to honour her as we would honour anyone who is outstanding. Some football and music fans have given more honour to their idols. But any right thinking person will honour a woman whom God’s son took her flesh. It is proper to fulfill God’s words through angel Gabriel that she is “full of grace”, and that the Lord is with her. And Christ himself made us adopt her as our Mother when he spoke to Saint John on the cross. In Mary, perhaps, as a writer said, God the Father has a feminine side.
The contributions of the Catholic Church to the world cannot be quantified. Western civilization today owes a lot to the Catholic Church. Think of culture, art and philosophy. The Easter and Christmas holidays are Catholic heritages. Pope Gregory XIII’s Gregorian calendar is what is used internationally as the civil calendar; time is measured by the West from the date taken as the birth of the Church’s founder, Jesus of Nazareth: the Year One AD (Anno Domini). The Catholic Church fought against slavery, human sacrifice, abortion, incest, polygamy and infidelity in marriage.
But for me, it is not so much what you said about Catholics as the effect such utterance can have on your person. Unless your presidential ambition is a joke, no right thinking person who has his eyes set on 2015 will want to play with votes. As they say in politics, every vote counts, not to talk of the votes of Nigerian Catholics, and perhaps Nigerian Christians and non-Christians in general who have come to love Pope Francis. By your actions alone, you have committed political suicide even before INEC blew the whistle. Like many Nigerians, I still doubt the seriousness of your political ambition.
In America, serious politicians tread carefully when it comes to Catholics and votes, because they understand that faith matters in politics. They are careful with certain topics because though Catholics may be liberal with the economy, they are conservative when it comes to abortion, contraceptives and homosexuality. Then imagine abusing their Pontiff towards an election year! Votes from Catholics helped make people like Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, John Kennedy, Bill Clinton and even Barack Obama win the U.S. presidential elections. And this list is not exhaustive.
In America’s politics, even the job of the College of Electors in deciding who becomes president has been likened to what is obtained in the Roman Catholic Church of the College of Cardinals that select the Pope. It does not really matter what you call Pope Francis. Christ himself said if He was called the king of demons what would they not call his servants.
I still believe you can retrace your steps. And so, I offer you the chance of being with us, so that you will be for us, and not against us. I enjoin you to embrace Catholicism. It is nothing to be ashamed about. Remember, pride goeth before a fall. Wisdom will be given to you freely, as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit at the Sacrament of Confirmation. And, there are still six more precious gifts in addition to that if only you will take the bold step. Don’t be afraid, Saint Paul did worse in prosecuting Catholics before you. You haven’t even got your hands stained with blood. But you know how Paul got converted and the height he reached with serving Christ whom he fought against.
If you have been divorced twice it doesn’t matter to us. Perhaps you were not meant to be married! This is an attribute of Catholic priests.
It is never too late. The Catholic seminary will be kind to you. But I must let you know that there is no crash course here. It is at least 8 plus X years before ordination. And X can be anything! The Catholic Church awaits you still with open arms if you would take this leap of faith. Are you worried about your church and “flock”? Don’t you worry about that, it will save you your succession plan headache. And as you know, God works in mysterious ways. And remember, this is a message inspired by love and compassion. You needn’t come in sack cloth and ashes, come in your designer suit and shoes, we will still accept you.
Dr Cosmas Odoemena
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