Roman Catholic Church, Patrick Edet
The
Catholic Bishop of Uyo Diocese, John Ayah has revealed that the church
has excommunicated, Reverend Father Patrick Edet for quitting the
priesthood.
The Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria has excommunicated a priest,
Patrick Edet, who recently quit the Church warning members to avoid any
dealing with him.
He was also stripped of all privileges accruing to a leader of the
Church. Patrick Edet, who served for more than 11 years in the Catholic
Diocese of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, had announced that he was leaving the
Catholic Church on August 2, through his weekly live radio programme
called Grace and Inspiration.
He said that before he made the decision, he prayed and fasted for
seven months asking God for direction. Besides being a radio preacher,
Mr. Edet runs a crowd-pulling fellowship in Uyo, outside the control of
the Catholic Church, using his Grace Family Global Outreach.
He said leaving the Catholic Church now gave him the freedom to
manage the fellowship in his own style, without getting into conflict
with his former church, adding that being a Catholic priest was like
being restricted to “a box.”
“You cannot know God beyond that box. You cannot express God
beyond that box. And any attempt for you to go beyond that box brings
you label.
“The reason I am doing this is that I want to be right with God first. I want to go to heaven when I die,” he said.
In his reaction to the development, the Catholic Bishop of Uyo
Diocese, John Ayah, issued a general notice to the parishioners on
August 12, where he warned Catholics to stay away from Mr. Edet.
“I advise that no Catholic member should approach him to obtain any service or guidance henceforth in the name of the Church,” the bishop said, adding that the Church disassociated itself from the activities of Mr. Edet.
“Any Catholic who attends his programme or identifies with him
(Mr. Patrick Edet) in any way does so at the risk of his or her Catholic
faith and membership,” he said.
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