Catholic Church suspends Parish Priest over racial comments

LAGOS, Nigeria – The Archdiocese of Lagos has placed Rev. James Anelu, the Priest in charge of Holy Trinity Catholic Church , Ewu-Owa, Ikorodu on indefinite suspension  for his racial posture.

In a statement, the Archbishop of Lagos, Bishop Alfred Adewale Martins  said Rev. James Anelu made some completely unacceptable comments about Igbo songs being used in the church and unsavory remarks that do not represent the Catholic Church’s position on “ common brotherhood of people of all tribes and religion”.

“For this reason, he has been asked to proceed on an indefinite leave of absence to give an opportunity  for a thorough investigation of all the matters relating to the ministry in the parish.

“The leave of absence takes  effect from Tuesday, 8^th February 2022 till further notice”, he said.

Bishop Alfred Adewale Martins called on all catholic faithful to hold on to the faith and continue in “our worship of God as one big family united and not separated by language, culture or race”, he said.