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Francis' "Total Obedience" Demand Seems To Not Work

Pope Francis' attempt to resolve a dispute over Bishop Peter Ebere Okpaleke of Ahiara, Nigeria, seems to fail. Okpaleke is not accepted in his diocese. Francis tried to force the priests into submission by threatening them with suspension.

Now, Francis is confronted with an insurrection of the lay-people, reports dailypost.ng. Around 3'000 Ahiara faithful converged on Saturday on the cathedral to restate their "total rejection" of the bishop. The rally started with a rosary procession around the cathedral. The diocesan youth were clad in black attire.

The President of the Diocesan Laity Council, Gerald Anyanwu insisted that Okpaleke was forced on them because he was not a priest from the local diocese.

Another lay representative, Lawrence Opara, described rumours that the priests would be sanctioned by the pope as false.

Picture: © Jeon Han, korea.net, CC BY-SA, #newsOppbxzpmjn