Ahead of the ordination on Saturday of the Bishop of the Diocese of Makeni in northern Sierra Leone, priests there have today told a visiting Vatican delegation that they will not accept let alone work with the new man, Fr Henry Aruna. They insist that they want a new bishop preferably one of their own. The new man hails from the southeast The priests told the 4-member delegation which included the ordaining archbishop from Rome and the nuncio (Vatican’s ambassador to Sierra Leone who is based in Liberia) that they would not cooperate with Fr Aruna in any way whatsoever to enter and work in the diocese. The 28 Sierra Leonean priests say they are united in their opposition to the appointment of Fr Aruna as the first Sierra Leonean to head the diocese. One of the priests who sat in the meeting told Politico that the delegation said that they would not coerce them to accept the new bishop nor force him on them, and appealed to them to maintain peace in the church. When Fr Henry Aruna was named exactly one year ago as bishop of the 62-year-old diocese, priests there said they would not accept him. Among other things they cited the fact that he came from the southeast of the country and was not familiar with their customs and traditions. They also said that the name of the bishop was leaked before it was announced arguing that that meant he should have been disqualified. Another reason for their opposition to the new man is that there are northern priests equally qualified and competent to become bishop and that there were no northerners at the assembly of bishops in the country. The protest by the priests follows a letter by the laypeople of the church expressing implacable opposition to the new bishop. They have even threatened to break away from the church should he be forced on them. Officials of the archdiocese of Freetown say all is set for the ordination on Saturday 5 January 2013 of Fr Aruna as bishop of the Makeni Diocese, one year since he was announced. (C) Politico Online 03/01/13
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