Rev. Fr. James ANELU, the Parish priest of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ewu Owa, who made headlines after he allegedly banned the singing of Igbo songs in his parish has been recalled to service.
The priest who was placed on an indefinite administrative leave by the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos due to the incident which generated a lot of heat online will now head back to the parish to bring about reconcillation and unity in the parish according to an official statement from the Directorate of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos.
The statement goes thus:
-ARCHBISHOP ALFRED ADEWALE MARTINS RECALLS FR JAMES ANELU!
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, has recalled Rev. Fr. James ANELU, the Parish priest of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ewu Owa from the indefinite administrative leave to which he was sent on Feb. 7th 2022. Fr. ANELU proceeded on the leave following allegations that he banned the singing of Igbo songs in the Parish.
Following a thorough investigation, conducted in consultation with the Parish Pastoral Council, the Parish Laity Council and Ad hoc Committee set up by the Archbishop, it was discovered that the posting on the social media that brought about the administrative leave did not give a complete picture of the incident.
Fr. James has therefore been asked to return to the Parish in order to remedy the situation created by the social media posting and bring about reconciliation and unity in the parish. In the spirit of the Lenten season, he urged all the parishioners to work together in collaboration with the Parish priest for the greater glory of God and the good of the community.
He also called upon all God’s children to remember Fr. ANELU and his parishioners in their prayers.
