Holyspirit

 Holy spirit

 I DNT think u should care much about who is elect but who is ready to work with the holyspirit that the gate of hell within the church DNT prevail against the church.

I have read many posts about the Black Pope and also read from a few Catholic priests who stylishly mock those asking for black people with some written memes.

That's what I expected them to do. A priest ought to defend the emergence of a new pope no matter what.

But we all know that more politics are involved in who becomes a Bishop, not to talk of who becomes a Pope.

The politics have been there for ages. Recently, there was a suspicion that the Onitsha Archdiocese wanted to dominate everyone by all means. This was the sentiment shared in Igbo land, especially in the Dioceses under the Owerri Archdiocese. When I say sentiments shared, I am. Not just talking about the lay faithfuls. I am talking about sentiments shared by priests and seminarians who have already become priests today.

When the Bishop of Okigwe died, people were mapping top priests from Okigwe that would replace him, and from nowhere, Amatu was mentioned as the new Bishop. He was an Auxiliary Bishop in the waiting from Onitsha Arch Diocese. This angered many priests, but they had no choice but to accept it. It is the holy spirit, and the holy spirit works in mysterious ways. It doesn't make mistakes. That's the belief. But people fail to understand that humans can jettison the Holy Spirit and act selfishly as humans, while fools believe it to be the Holy Spirit.

There was a smooth transition in the Orlu Diocese because Bishop Ọchịagha was a very strong Bishop. He controlled things well and was able to present to the Holy See the person the Holy See appointed as the would-be new Bishop. This did not allow too much politics to play out. But when the Bishop of Mbaise died without overseeing such a transition that happened in Orlu, all hell let loose. Many interest groups wanted to secure the seat for themselves. An insider report said the priests were fighting each other, and writing reports against themselves, forgetting that there is also another Auxiliary Bishop in the waiting in Onitsha Arch Diocese, and he was eventually proclaimed as the new Bishop of Ahiara. Both priests and faithful refused to accept the new Bishop. They accused the church of playing games. Some were of the view that it was Cardinal Arinze that were controlling these things from the top, and he kept favouring the Onitsha Arch Diocese.

I still think it was the disgrace Bishop Okpaleke received in the Ahiara Diocese that made Arinze facilitate his joining the College of Cardinals.

Brothers, the church is a home of politics. At times, even those who entered the seminary or who became a priest can be politicised, not to mention those who become a Pope.

If you think politics weren't played and Trump didn't play a part in the person who became the new Pope, then you are a baby.

Then, coming to having a black Pope, I think it is not yet time or maybe the time will never come. How can a people being manipulated by countries like Britain, France, and the USA become the Pope? Who becomes the Pope is very important in driving world politics. That was why Pope Benedict XVI stepped down. It is about politics.

But on a serious note, I am wondering on the irony of a white smoke signalling a selection of a Black Pope, when black smoke was none to mean no Pope has been selected.

You must play your own politics if you want to win. These things are no longer the Holy Spirit. When it returns to the Holy Spirit, we will know.

Elochukwu Ohagi Official, Philosopher, Teacher and Activist, 2025.