Nigeria Catholic Priests who Left Priesthood to Marry

A priest is a baptized man who has received the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Through this sacrament, a man enters into the ministerial priesthood which gives him a sacred power to serve,therefore it is the mission of the Catholic priest “to feed the Church by the word and grace of God” . As such, a priest is a mediator or ‘bridge-builder’ between God and humanity; The priest carries out this ‘bridge-building’ through teaching, divine worship and leading the people. In the Catholic Church, a parish priest (also known as a pastor) is a priest appointed by the bishop to represent him to the local parish, which is a collection of neighborhoods in one small region of a county within a given state. A given city may support a number of parishes, depending on the Catholic population. Catholic priests are either diocesan priests who belong to the diocese they’re located in or religious order priests, whose affiliation is with a particular religious order. The diocesan priest makes a promise of obedience to the local bishop and a promise of celibacy.A diocesan priest gets a modest monthly salary from the parish. In addition, the parish or diocese normally provides room and board (meals and lodging) and health insurance. Religious priests are known as order priests after the religious order they belong to, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, Benedictines, and Augustinians.They wear particular habits (religious garb) and take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They don’t own their own cars or have personal possessions. They may use a community vehicle that everyone in the order shares along with the community television, stereo, computer, and so on. They own the clothes on their back and little else. They normally live together with three or more members of the community in the same house, which encourages them to recreate together, because they must also live together, pray together, and work together. Its origins can be traced “directly to God,” according to a Reverend Fr. Akan Amos. The Roman Catholic church sees the priesthood as an “apostolic succession” that started with Peter, when Jesus said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”( Matthew 16:18) Thus, the Catholic church regards Peter as the first pope of Rome, and the priesthood as a divine calling that is expected to last forever! Yet, there have been a few cases where priests resigned. Below are their names; The most recent in Nigeria being that of Rev. Fr. Patrick Henry Edet in Akwa Ibom state. Rev. Fr. Gospel .J. Inalegwu a Kano-based catholic priest , who recently dumped the priesthood has gotten married. Father Inalegwu’s resignation comes more than one year after he was kidnapped at his parish at St Joseph catholic church, Jitan-Dutse, in Tudun Wada local government council, Kano state. People claimed that Father Inalegwu knew that he was going to quit the priesthood but pretended for 11 years in the seminary. A Rev. father identified as Mike Boni Bazza who was a lecturer at the Veritas University of History and International Relations.He got married to Ratilla Ussa on Saturday, October 26 in the Kaduna State of Nigeria after serving as a catholic priest for 25 years before quitting, ostensibly to have a feel of life outside of celibacy. A Reverend Father, Samuel Deku, left Priesthood after 15 years to get married. According to the former Catholic Priest, the decision came after he rediscovered and found his true self. who said he had to stay true to himself even though it wasn’t an easy decision, added that he realized that God would only bless any individual when he or she stays true to him/herself in every aspect.Samuel Deku got married in December 2018 to a beautiful lady. “You need God's direction before you can prosper in anything you do. However, it takes your choices to begin; it takes your passion to stay on; it also takes your integrity to finish it well!” ― Israelmore Ayivor