The Roman Catholic Church has cautioned its priests to restrain from using the pulpit for political campaigns even as the church is encouraging all Nigerians above 18yrs to participate actively in the 2023 general elections and not leave it to career politicians only.
A nine-point resolution made at the end of the meeting between the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria -CBCN, and the Nigeria Catholic Diocesan Priests Association of Nigeria -NCDPA, held at the Sacred Heart Pastoral Centre, Orlu, had the theme: “Political Consciousness for Effective Choice of Political Leaders in Nigeria”. The Church had promised to use its resources and structures to ensure that all sectors of the populace, actively participate in the electoral process.
Some of the resolutions were that the church would work hard to promote the level and quantity of political awareness among the youths so that they realize that the situation of the country can be bettered if they make the right choice while voting, to encourage all persons of legal age to vote to actively participate in the elections rather than leave the process to career politicians alone.
One of the points had read succinctly, “We recommit ourselves to preserving the sacredness of the pulpit and liturgical services which should never be used for political campaigns.”
The resolutions had been signed by Most Reverend. Alfred Adewale Martins, the Chairman of CBCN, Department of Church and Society, and Reverend Father John Bosco Ezehi, the President of NCDPA.
