Catholic Church did not withdraw from CAN, say Onaiyekan, Kaigama

Against the backdrop of insinuations that the Catholic Church has pulled out of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Bishop Ignatus Kaigama and the Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, have reiterated the commitment of the church to Christian unity.

Kaigama, while delivering his presidential address at the take-off of the Plenary Meeting of the CBCN Sunday in Abuja, said their call for dialogue on some national CAN issues must not be misconstrued for ulterior motives.

He stated: “Those who screamed the headline ‘Catholic Church pulls out of CAN’, were not expressing our views and those who, without finding out the truth of the matter made weighty and indicting statements against the Catholic Church, need to exercise restraint and prudence in the future”.

Kaigama cautioned Christians against allowing media headlines to trivalise fundamental Christian issues, thereby setting Christians against one another.

Arch Bishop of Abuja Diocese, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, while fielding questions from journalists earlier on election of a new Pope and rumoured withdrawal from CAN, said “it not an issue because we have not withdrawn from CAN and there is nothing like temporal withdrawal”.

“There has been some unnecessary confusion over the matter, we did not withdraw from CAN and if we are doing so, we will make it known to everybody. We have difficulty in certain sense but we are working it out”, he stated.