• A reverend father has backed OPM’s Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere’s decision to get his adopted autistic son hitched to a single mum
• While the marriage has been met with backlash, the Catholic priest believes that the OPM pastor was religiously, traditionally and humanly right
• In a Facebook post, the reverend father explained why he backs the marriage of the autistic man and the single mum

Father Basil Ebube Obieje, a Catholic priest, has come to the defence of Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere of Omega Power Ministries (OPM), over the backlash he received for the marriage of his adopted autistic son, Aboy, to a single mum.

The reverend father stated that Apostle Chibuzor was religiously, traditionally and humanly right to have helped the autistic man get married.

Why priest backed OPM pastor

Father Basil, in a Facebook post on March 30, wondered why people criticised the action of the OPM general overseer. While noting that one could question if the autistic man consented to the marriage, he stated that the same can not be said about the woman.

The Catholic priest further argued that the marriage was not wrong, provided that the traditional rites were duly carried out and that the woman knew what she was getting into.

He reminded people that OPM’s church is not a Catholic church, and that the cleric was right according to his church’s doctrine.

The priest’s full statement read:

“Pastor Chibuzor of OPM was religiously and Traditionally and even humanly right!

“Fada Basil Ebube Obieje.

“I don’t really understand: Why are people criticizing what OPM did?

“Yes, We can question the boy’s consent, not the woman’s. However, in Igbo tradition, we see many mentally unstable people for whom the family gets a wife. These things are already done.

“People are writing and commenting that he needs rehabilitation or this and that. But, if he is really 25 years old and it is confirmed that he has sexual urge, it means that his body is active.

“So, what type of care will stop that urge hence it’s his human instinct and he has no mental capacity to moral and discipline? If you have a brother or son like him, and you have all it takes to get a wife for him, won’t you do same? Let’s be honest.

“Provided that the traditional rites were duly followed and the lady wilfully accepted him knowing well his situation, I don’t see the problem there. People say that she married him because of the packages. That may be true but some women really want to answer ‘married’. Even at that, everyone marries for a reason: finance, beauty, status, etc.

“Let’s remember, this is not Catholic Church. In the protestant churches, according to Luther, marriage is not a Sacrament, so it’s not binding forever. It’s just a social agreement recognized by the church. It can be broken at any time.

“So, traditionally, OPM was right. Religiously, he was right too according to his Church’s doctrine.

“Well, I may be wrong but that’s my position!”

See the reverend father’s Facebook post below:

OPM marriage: Reactions trail Catholic priest’s position

Legit.ng has compiled some reactions to the Catholic priest’s remarks below:

Anuluba Lazarus said:

“Please padre i will advise you to take down this post, please you people should stop random opinions, even me who has not been to higher level of study knows that this is not marriage.Your reasoning on this post is far substandard of a priest, anyone who is in real marriage institutions knows marriage is more than that, marriage is more than satisfaction of urge, marriage is more than what you stand to gain materially.Everything you said here further prove that this is not a marriage and it is sad that a priest is having such mentality.”

Emmanuel Uchechukwu Onwe said:

“That marriage is not a sacrament doesn’t mean it’s not binding forever in Protestant theology. I think you got it wrong.”

Dan Chidi Ugwu said:

“This is the first time am seeing a Catholic priest reason like Portable.

“Does marriage cure lust??

“As a priest do you not have sexual urge? How do you address it? You grab women?

“Tueh, I pour spit on this understanding.”

In a related story, Legit.ng reported a full list of promises that the OPM pastor made to the autistic man’s wife.

OPM pastor shares what changed about Aboy

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the OPM pastor had shared what he noticed about the autistic man after being married for one day.

His observation emerged after mixed reactions followed the news of the marriage on social media.

The marriage between Aboy and the woman went viral online and ignited heated discussion, with many observers expressing joy over the union while others questioned some aspects of the arrangement and shared differing opinions.

Source: Legit.ng