CATHOLIC PRIESTS FOUND A SOLUTION TO ESCAPEE CATHOLICS?

I remember being taught the the reasons why the protestants broke away from the catholic church, that was when I was just a little boy. I was taught the many 'unholy things' that were being done in the catholic church at the time. I was told of Martin Luther and the '95 Points Against The Roman-Catholic Church', and how they came to influence how the catholic church is viewed today by many. Ever since then, the church has gone through some major reforms in some areas, and in other areas, it has remained stuck to it's old traditions, and understandably so in many instances. 

As a result of some disagreements between members of the catholic church's elite, there was a split, which became known as The Reformation and defined the face of christianity for ever. Now the reasons for this pivotal moment in Catholic Church history have been a source of controversy, as the catholic church will give a totally different account from that of the protestants. No matter what account you read or believe, there's no denying this scarred and will continue to do so for the rest of it's life.

The fundamental reason underlying The Reformation was simple: the elite of the church failed to listen to, and meet the needs of it's christians. There was a communication gap between the church and the church goer. Unfortunately, the church may be facing the same situation today. There have been a host of scandals facing priests which the church gave an 'almost blind eye' to, like child sex abuse, priests soliciting male prostitutes, corruption/embezzlement at the Vatican Bank, even rumours of the existence of a Vatican Gay Lobby. All these have scarred the church seriously. However, few of these problems, exposed as they may be, are as serious as the shrinking catholic population in the Developed World  It has been a source of concern for many pope. And the number of catholics being stolen into 'alternative churches' in Africa is alarming.

And by alternative churches, I mean churches that present themselves as the 'cure' to all problems facing mankind. Nevermind rhe long introduction to this post, this is the focal point of this article. These churches are so many now, that even those who leave the cotholic church in search of 'salvation' often get confused and return to the 'ancient of day', the catholic church. If you are familiar christianity in Africa, you'ld appreciate how much of a 'threat' these churches have become to the 'established churches'.
Prominent among these are TB Joshua's SCOAN(Snagogue Church Of All Nations), David Oyedepo's Winners4' Chapel, Chris Oyakilome's Christ Embassy, The Chosen Ministries, Pastor Adeboye's Redeemed Christian Church Of God, and many others all from Nigeria. In Cmaeroon, we have Kingship Ministries in Douala which is promising to be a game-changer in Cameroonian christianity. Even in America, there so many like Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church and Bishop TD Jakes' TD Jakes Ministries. 

These churches have become so popular, especially in Africa, that the established churches, like the catholic church can't cope with them anymore. Their popularities have soared in the face of the various wars, plagues and finincial/ social crises that have stricken their homelands. And one more thing, they perform miracles and make prophecies. They have so far been able to give the desperate population the hope which their churches former churches have not been able to. As to the question of whether these churches are true churches or not, that's not for me to judge. And so, even though these most of christians do not abandon their churches completely, it still becomes a huge problem for these churches, especially the catholic church. This has led to a lot of resentment from catholic priests.

And so in a bid to find a permanent solution to tthe fact that the catholic church may be 'bleeding christians', what have some priests decided to do, forbid catholic christians from going to these 'sects' or 'mushroom churces' as they prefer to call them; and any christian who's caught in any of these 'sects' will be required to 'confess' publicly before the entire congregation; and that's for those priests who are a bit light-hearted. Some priests have taken it a step further by threatening an outright excommunication for any christian who links themself to any of these 'sects' or 'mushroom churches'. I sat in church on sunday, too dazed to speak or move as I heard this announcement being made by the catechist, and I thought it was just a bluff, untill the priest himself reiterated the same mesage. Now let's be clear here, not all priests have passed such a law, infact, it's just a handfull of them.

Many people have been complaining about the harshness of this law, as it "goes against the very principle of freedom which God gives all of us" some would say, and "is it not the same God we go to worship in these other churches?" others would ask, and rightfully so in both cases. As I listened to this announcement, three very striking questions came to my mind;
"Have these priests been listening to Pope Francis' messages of religious tolerance"
"What would pope Francis say if he heard such a declaration?"
"Who gives the right to decide where christians go to get their salvation?"
I still do not have the answer to any of these questions, and I still look forward to doing so.

Here's why these laws are a bad idea. First of all, Africa is a hot bed for christianity, and everybody seems to be looking for salavation. The prevalence of so many of these churches gives christians so many alternatives that they don't even need to return to the catholic church, and so if the church continues with such a hostile approach towards these 'sects', they risk loosing a sizable number of christians.

Secondly, many of the catholic church's affluent and rich followers are now turning to these churches for 'protection against enemies', especially businessmen and women. If the church has to force them to make a choice, they would most likely go with these other churches where they feel protected.

Lastly, this move comes across as desperate. It seems like a last resort after all other attempts have either failed or yielded little positive results. It could only mean one thing in the eyes of the church's critics; that the church has failed to stop it's christians from leaving, and is therefore incapable of giving them what they need.

But if I learned anything from my preliminary studies of The Reformation, it is the fact that it came as a result of a disgruntled catholic population that was tired of sub-ordinating to the unscrupulous rules and laws set by the elite few that seemed so distant from the masses. May be the church needs to ask itself a few questions too;
"Why are christians flocking to these other churches"
"What do these other churches offer christians that the catholic church can't?"
"What is the catholic church doing wrong"
Only after the resolution of these dilemma and more, can the church begin to appreciate the reality on the ground. And one more thing, the church needs to realise that these 'sects' are here to stay, and as much as that happens, the church has to find a better way to 'compete' and not 'deal' with them for the hearts of christians.


EGEOGHO CARLSON KIMBI