By Ike Abonyi.
Governor Hyacinth Alia may not realise it, but his conduct in partisan politics is becoming one of the strongest arguments for the Catholic Church’s wisdom in keeping priests away from partisan political contests.While the impulse for a Catholic priest to enter politics often stems from a desire to address systemic corruption, bad governance, and social injustice, the Catholic Church maintains a strict position forbidding ordained ministers from holding public offices that involve the exercise of secular authority. This principle is anchored in Canon Law, Catholic Social Teaching, and the distinct roles assigned to the clergy versus the laity.The Code of Canon Law specifically addresses clerical involvement in secular governance: “Clerics are forbidden to assume public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of secular power.”Furthermore, Canon 287 §2 emphasises that clerics “are not to have an active part in political parties or in the direction of trade unions unless, according to the judgment of competent ecclesiastical authority, the protection of the rights of the Church or the promotion of the common good requires it.”When Father Hyacinth Alia declared his intention to contest the Benue State governorship under the platform of a political party, the Catholic Diocese of Gboko under his Lordship Bishop William Avenya suspended him from active priestly ministry. This suspension was not a punitive condemnation of his personal character, but an enforcement of canon law to preserve the integrity of the priesthood.The primary role of a Catholic priest is spiritual: to act in persona Christi (in the person of Christ), to administer the Sacraments, preach the Gospel, and unify the flock.In the Church’s wisdom, politics divides, while the Sacraments unite. Partisan politics is inherently competitive and divisive. A partisan candidate or elected official must adopt a party platform and oppose political adversaries. A priest who enters this arena risks alienating members of his congregation who hold different political views, thereby compromising his role as a spiritual father to all.When the Church stands outside partisan structures, it retains the moral authority to hold all political leaders accountable—regardless of party affiliation. Once a priest becomes an active politician, his actions and political compromises are conflated with the Church itself, risking institutional scandal and partisan bias.As a Catholic priest, Father Alia was called to serve all—the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, the members of every political party. But as Governor Alia, he is inevitably a partisan political actor, operating within the interests and calculations of a political party.That is precisely the dilemma the Church has sought to avoid.Governor Alia’s political conduct has demonstrated how quickly the demands of partisan politics can overwhelm the temperament expected of the priesthood. Politics requires confrontation, political loyalty, the defence of one’s party, and sometimes an almost relentless battle against political opponents like the one he did against a fellow Catholic, Peter Obi, who is in the opposition party.The priesthood demands something fundamentally different: reconciliation, neutrality, compassion, and service to all.You cannot simultaneously be everybody’s pastor and somebody’s partisan warrior.Governor Alia’s transformation from priest to politician has therefore provided a rather uncomfortable demonstration of why the Church drew that line in the first place.The irony is striking: a man who once stood at the altar preaching unity, forgiveness, and love of neighbour now occupies a political office where his actions are inevitably judged through the lens of partisan power.And that is not necessarily a failure of the man. It is a warning about the institution of partisan politics itself.The Catholic Church understood that political power can change the context in which even a well-intentioned priest operates. Once political survival becomes part of the equation, neutrality becomes difficult, pastoral detachment becomes almost impossible, and opponents can easily become enemies.Governor Alia should therefore be careful about proving the Church right without intending to. His Lordship Bishop William Avenya, who suspended Fr Alia after he ignored his advice, will be feeling embarrassed, even though he saw Fr Alia’s mess in politics coming. Fr. Alia’s political career has become a real-life demonstration of the distinction between a priest who serves the conscience of the people and a politician who must compete for the allegiance of the people.The Church did not keep priests out of partisan politics because priests were incapable of leadership.It did so because it understood that the altar should not become an extension of the party platform—and the priest should not become a partisan combatant.Governor Alia’s journey from the altar to partisan politics has made that wisdom impossible to ignore.What Fr Alia has successfully done by his political conduct is to prove his Bishop and the Church right—that he ought not to have gone into partisan politics. Even though he is on suspension from Gboko Diocese, because a priest is a priest, especially of the Catholic Church, the embarrassment of his conduct is to the Church, his main spiritual family.The point needs to be stressed that the Church’s prohibition against priests entering partisan politics is not a retreat from societal issues but a preservation of sacred duty.While lay Catholics are tasked with directly managing secular governance and contesting elections, priests are called to remain above party politics—serving as universal shepherds whose moral authority remains uncompromised by the partisan fray.”
_Ike Abonyi is Editor @Large_
