Abortion: Group reports Ngige to Pope
04 February, 2010 07:28:00 PATIENCE AKPURU
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Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige, flag bearer of the party in the February 6 Anambra governorship election.
The attempt by the governorship candidate of the Action Congress (AC) in the Anambra State election, Dr. Chris Ngige, to return to Government House, yesterday suffered a setback as a group, Human Rights Guard, asked Pope Benedict XVI to prevail on Catholics not to vote for him during Saturday’s poll.
In a letter sent to the Pope, the group said Ngige lacked the moral credentials to lead a predominantly Christian Sate like Anambra which has three Dioceses of the Catholic Church: Onitsha, Awka and Nnewi.
Ngige, formerly of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared winner of the state governorship election in 2003 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). His victory was later nullified by the Supreme Court, which ordered that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate Mr. Peter Obi, be sworn in as governor.
However, in the letter, the group said Ngige allegedly committed many atrocities while in office and should be stopped by the Catholic Church in his re-election bid.
Part of the letter which was sent to the Pope through the Papal Embassy in Abuja and signed by Dr. Michael Nwokedi read: “When Dr. Chris Ngige illegally and immorally occupied the seat, he committed a lot of atrocities that were unbecoming of a true Christian. Besides visiting shrines, he caused to be passed by the State House of Assembly, into law, the Bill legalizing abortion in the state known as Reproductive Rights Law.”
Group Petitions the Pope against Ngige
“It is regrettable, Your Holiness, to note that while he was doing all these, he was compensated by the Church by being made a Knight of the Catholic Church.
“We believe sincerely that the Church as well as the civil society should work hand in hand to promote the values they share together, such as the respect for human rights and the preservation of the sanctity of life by guarding against any act that will promote acts geared towards the killing of lives whether at foetal stage.
“Your Holiness, from the little that we know about the Church’s stand, we are convinced we share the same views with her, which is rooted in the Bible and the teachings of the Fathers.
“We are aware that the Catholic Church has long opposed all forms of artificial birth control and abortion. Moral and philosophical grounds of the opposition can be traced back to the fathers and doctors of the Church - St. Jerome , John Chrysostom, Epiphnius of Salamis, Augustine, Lactantus, Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria etc, who condemned any and all means of frustrating the natural “end” of the procreative act.
“In modern times the Catholic Church’s hostility has been made explicit in a series of Papal encyclicals, including Casti Cannubi (“On Chaste Marriage”) of Pope Pius XII; Humanae Vitae (“On Human Life”) of Pope Paul VI; Evangelium Vitae ( “The Gospel Of Life”) of Pope John Paul II. The Catholic case against abortion cannot be expressed better than in the words of Pope Pius XII:
“The unborn child is a human being in the same degree and by the same title as its mother. Moreover, every human being, even the child in its mother’s womb, receives its right to life directly from God, not from its parents, nor from any human society or authority.
“Innocent human life, in whatever condition it is found, is immuned from the very moment of its existence, to any direct deliberate attack. The life of an innocent human being is inviolable, and any direct assault or aggression on it violates one of those fundamental laws without which it is impossible for human beings to live safely in society.
“Having taken the foregoing into consideration, it is condemnable that Ngige, a Catholic knight who legalised abortion in his State is still courted by some officials of the Church. Why can’t our clergy take a cue from what happened in America, how Archbishop Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver and Bishop Joseph F. Martino, of the Diocese of Scranton, among others refused Mr. Joe Biden, the Vice President of America communion because of his stand on abortion.
“We believe that the Church should be more vocal in the promotion of Christian virtues by dealing decisively with her members that refuse to abide by the teachings of the Church, especially while in public service.
“The man under reference was reported to have also visited one shrine in our state called Ogwugwu Akpu where he swore, thus telling us that he was not a Christian in the right meaning of the word.
“We appeal to his Holiness to direct Archbishop Valerian Maduka Okeke of the Archdiocese of Onitsha; the Bishop of the capital city of Awka, Bishop Simon Okafor and his Auxiliary, Bishop Paulinus Ezeokafor to furnish Your Holiness with the true state of the report we are humbly bringing before your Holy seat. We believe that the strong stand of the Church in matters like this will discourage others from taking a similar line of action.”
The letter was copied to the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. Valarian Okeke; the Catholic Bishop of Awka, Most Rev. Simon Okafor; the Catholic Bishop of Nnewi, Most Rev. Hilary Odili Okeke; the Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Awka; Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor and the Emeritus Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. Albert Obiefuna.


http://www.champion.com.ng/index.php?news=27419

Cheap blackmail. Pls look for serious points to talk about. This is pure low-road (gutter) politics. It is a big shame! Who is afraid of Ngige? Let the best candidate win - whoever he/she is.

He who is holy let him cast the first stone, as if the pope gat nothing else to do.

Champion Newspaper again?

The same paper that awarded Peter Obi the most trustworthy gov?

God, i can never use my money to buy such crap shit

Good try but not good enough.

Ngige is a shameless man . . . . I hope the church will act on the petition immediately.
Who knows how many OKIJA shrines he had visited for this gubernatorial election.

Anyway, this election is between Peter Obi ansd Soludo, Ngige is already a loser.

The corruption coated Nigerian politics may be thicker than the Pope's finger, he will only give the allegation a second thought if he is hearing about Nigeria for the first time, hisses, "next letter please".

@metal-gong. Are you so ill-bred that you always resort to insults when you have an option of ignoring a thread?