Connect with us

Entertainment

Funerals: Nigerian priests lack compassion, Chimamanda Adiche speaks after mum’s burial

Published




Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, has stated that most Nigerian Catholic church priests lack compassion.

She made the statement in an interview whilst speaking on the way she was treated by a Catholic priest following the burial service of her mother.

The ‘Half of a Yellow sun’ writer stated she’s yet to receive an apology for the wrong she suffered in the hands of the priest.

“It’s no secret that losing a loved one is one of the most challenging things in life and despite what some may think, there is no right or wrong way of dealing with it.

“I am not strong in the face of grief. I don’t think anybody should be strong in the face of grief.

Shedding more light on her experience with her hometown Catholic parish priest during her mum’s funeral Mass, she said; “I have never been afraid of criticism. So, if this priest had written something to criticise me, or even shouted at me at some other venue but the Holy mass of my mother’s funeral, it would have been okay.

MORE READING!  Actress Eniola Ajao apologizes over Bobrisky's best-dressed female saga

“I really would not have minded. But to do this at my mother’s funeral…

“This man did not think that my mother deserved the respect, the basic courtesy of having a funeral that would not turn into a raucous market.

She added that the priest’s action made the mourning process very difficult as her mother deserved so much better.

“It’s been very, very difficult. It’s not even about me. My mother deserved so much better. My mother deserved respect. She deserved courtesy. My mother never did anything to that man, my mother gave to the church, my mother gave to him…. She deserved better.

“After I have made complaints, I was told to write to the bishop formally. I wrote a formal complaint. The bishop responded to tell me that he will not be able to do anything and the reason is that I had talked about it at the bishops’ conference where I had been invited to speak. Therefore, he was now unable to act,” Chimamanda said.

MORE READING!  Actor Lege Miami, Eniola Badmus trade words over private matchmatcking

Explaining the reason for bringing it to public ears, she said; “I have to be honest and say that one of the reasons I want to talk about this publicly is that I don’t want what happened to us to happen to any other person. I don’t want that for anybody.

“There is just so much that happens during burials and funerals and particularly seems to me that it happens more in Igbo land, the caclic church in the south east where priests are so lacking in compassion, they can refuse to bury a person because the person owes some small amount, they make all kinds of demands on the family and nobody shows compassion….

“The whole root of Christianity is compassion and I think about and I feel like I have the good compassion of being well known and this happened to me and nobody has faced any consequence.

MORE READING!  Best-dressed female: I could have made similar mistake, says Femi Branch

“We have not received any apology, the wrong that we suffered has not been set right, so how much worse will it be for people who don’t have the same platform that I have.

Absolutely hurt by her experience and sharing a video on her Instagram page on Tuesday, she urged people who have encountered such experiences to speak up.

“I would like to start a storytelling movement on this issue. Please join me.

“Share your own stories about your experience of burials and funerals in the Nigerian Catholic Church.⁣

“Name the parish and the town and the date(s) but please do NOT name the priest or the bishop. We do not want to risk turning this into a personal witchhunt,” she said.

Advertisement
Comments



Trending