The Catholic Diocese of Ahiara has issued a disclaimer in respect of a catholic priest alleged to have had carnal knowledge of a young man from the community.
The diocese, in a release dated September, 26, 2024 and signed by Rev Fr Jude Thaddeus Osondu, Manager, Mater TV and Head, New Media Catholic Diocese of Ahiara, said, “our attention has been drawn to media reports concerning an unfortunate incident that occurred in Oboama Enyiogugu Mbaise recently. It was alleged that a certain “Fr Mario” had carnal knowledge of a young man from the community. This got the community youths into expelling the individual they tagged “Fr Mario” as well as his activities from their community.
We wish to state categorically that the individual called “Fr Mario” is not a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. He does not belong to the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara, and does not belong as well to any Diocese or Religious Congregation of the Roman Catholic Church. In the same vein, none of the purported incidents took place in or around any Parish premises or property of the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara.
Nonetheless, a signpost seen in one of the images circulating online seems to indicate that the said “Fr Mario” may belong to the “Old Catholic Church” a religious group that is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
This disclaimer is issued in good faith, to correct certain erroneous narratives flying about. Feel free to reach out to the Diocesan media office for further clarifications”.
