Priest Kidnapped For Ransom But Catholic Church Won't Pay Ransom

Priest Kidnapped For Ransom But Catholic Church Won't Pay Ransom 

Ezeokafor, who was reacting to the kidnap of a priest, Rev. Father Christopher Ogaga, in Aragba, Oviri-Okpe, Okpe Local Government, Delta State recently, and the eventual demand for N15million ransom, said it will be foolhardy and unimaginable for the universal church to pay for the release of any abducted priest.

The cleric, who spoke at St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Awka, emphatically said the reason the mother church did not pay ransom to kidnappers was because the Church relied solely on people’s benevolence and goodwill for her survival.

He wondered why anyone in their right senses would ever think of kidnapping a priest of God, let alone requesting ransom from the Church.

He added that Catholic priests owned nothing and therefore had nothing to give to anybody.

“Catholic priests live on parishioners’ benevolence. Whatever they receive as gifts are what they live with, no additional income anywhere. They have given up everything – children, accumulation of wealth, owning and acquisition of property.