Fr. Mbaka's Transfer: My Opinion.

Fr. Mbaka's transfer did not come as a surprise to me, as a matter of fact, I have been expecting it. The Catholic priest who is quite vocal and has been described as controversial by many was transferred by the Catholic Diocese of Enugu from Christ the King Parish, in the Government Reserved Area, Enugu State to Our Lady's Parish, Emene, a suburb area of the same state. He reportedly worked in his former parish for about 20 years.

Fr. Mbaka's transfer has raised and is still raising a lot of dust. I have a couple of question begging for answers anyway and they are to wit:
1. Why was Fr. Mbaka transferred after 20 years and after laboring so hard to put up his very popular ministry?
2. Why did the transfer come after his prediction of the outcome of the 2015 general elections?
3. Why wasn't he sent to a parish close to his ministry?
4. Why was he made an assistant parish priest with a reported poor accommodation?
5. Is the Catholic Church against their priests being vocal and giving their opinions in matters affecting them and their faithfuls?
6. Why is Fr. Mbaka romancing with Buhari's government?
7. Does this mean that Fr. Mbaka is oblivious of the things that have gone wrong since this administration came into power?
8. Why is Fr. Mbaka bothered about his transfer and the fact that he'll suffer in his new parish? Isn't priesthood all about suffering?
9. Can the activities of the Catholic Church with regards to the workings of her organs be influenced by external forces? Fr. Mbaka's transfer, a case study.
10. What's in this for the APC? Would they have been up for Fr. Mbaka if they had lost the elections? What's their business with the workings of the Catholic Church?

I'm catholic, no doubt. But, most times, the workings of the church really cobwebs my mind. A similar once happened in the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki, a priest who was very vocal and a huge critique of the then government (he reportedly published thirty eight books during the silver jubilee of his priestly ordination, I don't know how true this is), was transferred from the Abakaliki urban to a very remote area in Ebonyi state. I read one of his books; This Madness Called Election, and I was really wowed! He said things that most people didn't want to hear, but they were the truth. His pen really bled for good. Ever since his transfer, his voice went down, though he didn't stop writing. Could this be the intention of the church in Fr. Mbaka's case?

I criticized Fr. Mbaka for his flying-pigeon-theory, the fact that he flew in a private jet obviously belonging to the government  and his being almost silent on the ills of this pr government, I even wrote him an open letter on facebook, but I do not support his transfer. I understand the transfer thing in the Catholic Church, but there always exceptions to every general rule. Priests who start up schools and other similar establishments are allowed to stay longer than normal. Twenty years is not a short time, but why did the transfer come now? Even if there's no foul play, there apparently is.

Meanwhile, the involvement of the church in the government  and vice versa is really annoying! One doesn't even know if we are now a theocratic state or still a secular one. Nigeria really has to grow beyond the King Henry VIII rule. If we must move forward, we must do the right thing.

Finally, I condemn in the strongest terms what appears to be politics in the Catholic Church. I'm very certain that even as an assistant priest, Fr. Mbaka will bounce back; his fan base is beyond what you can think of. I hope and pray earnestly that he doesn't break away from the Catholic Church, it has happened before... you read me right.