Faith in God or Guns: Priests, and divine protection on trial

Dr. Leo Igwe

Published By: Kazeem Ugbodaga By Leo Igwe A recent case where a Catholic priest shot and killed a member of his parish in Imo state in southern Nigeria has occasioned a crisis of faith. The incident has compelled people, believers, and non-believers to raise fundamental questions about the conduct of clerics, and faith in divine protection. As was reported, this catholic priest shot and killed a church member on December 31, 2024. The church member allegedly threw a knockout or banger at him during an end-of-the-year activity, and in return, the priest shot and killed him. The police are investigating the matter, and the catholic priest is currently in custody. Some people said the action of the priest was intentional, that he shot the guy in self-defense. That he did not know that what the guy threw at him was a knockout. Others said it was an accidental discharge. Whatever the case, whether the shooting was deliberate or not, the fact is that this priest shot and killed his church member. And people are asking many questions. People are trying to make sense of this tragic event. A key question in the minds of many people is this: What is a catholic priest doing with a gun in a church? Think about it. This is a valid question. What was this guy doing with a gun in a house of god? Some are wondering: Does it mean that the priest does not believe in divine protection? The Catholic church will have to confront these questions for the foreseeable future because this incident highlights some crises, contradictions, and hypocrisies. The killing has caused many to be confused and conflicted in their faith. Look, many people go to church to seek divine protection because they believe that there is a god and that god, not guns would protect them. Priests claim to embody and dispense divine power and protection. Priests, like this cleric who shot his parishioner, are paid to pray and deliver divine protection to the people. The political economy of clerics is largely based on ensuring and trading divine protection. Now, in this case, this priest used the money he got from praying for divine protection to purchase a gun to protect himself. Is that not a contradiction? Is that not deceitful? Clearly, this priest had more faith in his gun than in god. He does not believe in divine protection of either himself or of others hence he bought a gun to protect himself. Meanwhile, he profits and professionally thrives on selling faith in god and divine protection to the people. His main business is preaching to people most of them have no guns or cannot afford a firearm that god would protect them. What priests and other clerics preach and practice do not add up; they do not align. Clerics make their members and followers believe that there is a god who protects them and that they, the clerics, represent that god. They make people trust god or rely on god, not on worldly guns for protection. Clerics make people pay or provide for them in exchange for prayers and assurances of divine protection, which as this case shows they do not believe in. This hypocrisy is not peculiar to the catholic church or catholic priests. The contradiction is religion-wide. Prominent religious leaders move around with gun-throttling police officers and soldiers. Arm personnel guard many churches, mosques, and other so-called houses of god. So the message is clear. It is either there is no god to protect anyone as atheists popularly believe or such a god is too weak and impotent, such a god is so ungodly to effectively guard his houses or protect his people, and estate.

-Leo Igwe is an ex-Catholic seminarian from Imo State