Rt. Rev. lkechi Nwachukwu Nwosu, Bishop of Umuahia Diocese, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), pleads with women in the Anglican church to understand why they cannot be ordained as priests. We are not cheating them, we are only considering the challenges thet are faced with as mothers, wives, etc. The priest is also unhappy with the growing level of immorality and poverty in the country. Excerpts from an interview he granted recently.

Anglican Church and the fight against immorality and corruption?
We actually believe that the leadership act, government and some NGOs should join in fighting against immoral­ity and corruption, unemployment and other ills besieging us as a people. The church will continue to place itself at the disposal of everybody as the conscience of the nation. The church is the conscience of the nation and we believe that the conscience is the seed of honouring God, the human body. If the conscience is dedicated promptly, the human being behaves well and therefore we would like to see ourselves- the church would like to see herself - as the leader in education that places emphasis on morality, character, learning.

So we will continue to get new schools and discuss with the government how the former schools could come back to us on one side and then the other side how we could continue to join hands with government on education. And then the health sector and other sectors will help us on how to make meaningful impact on the social life of the generality of the people. Apart from the normal worship and prayer and preaching in the congregations for which the church is noted, we will do these practical aspects of our faith; to ensure that we are also fighting against these social ills.

If one's mind is properly nurtured in the words of God, for instance, an armed robber comes in contact with the church, you can see through the words of God, the armed robber can be disarmed, you will notice through their conscience, they are robbing people of their goods often without even going through the four walls of the prison. He could have had good for his life and become a good citizen. That is that for people whom God can use well. But there are others who need to be tutored from the elementary schools up to univer­sity level, so that is why we are embarking on schools.

And then, the third one is how we comport ourselves in society. So that how I work in the office as a Christian will help those whom I am working with. We should always know that it is good to be straight and honest rather than cheating because at the end of the day, we are only worsening the situation for ourselves. So, the church will continue to fight these ills through these avenues.

Poverty alleviation measures at various levels of government.
Emh, my brother, those questions for me are too much. But let us first of all appreciate those that have been implemented and their initiators for even thinking that we need a heart for alleviating or eradicating poverty totally, But as they say, thoughts are different from actions. So, maybe now something is wrong with the ideas that have been put in place, that's why many people are still going about hungry. It will appear that the programmes are not addressing the issues.

There were far more important things to be sorted out rather than the ordination ofg women as priests, so that should be kept on hold.

So, you are right to say that things are getting worse rather than better. And I would like to say that when there is a good idea coming from those who are entrusted with leadership positions, let them be honest. You know when you ask the ordinary man in the street about these is­sues, he will say well, they budgeted money for projects to make things better for ordinary per­sons. But they have selfishly spent the money on themselves while leaving others in the cold.

So, I will say anybody who is involved in these things should be honest. Let those who are releasing fund be honest and those who are using the money to operate the system be honest.

What is wrong in ordaining women as preists in the Anglican Church? hall we be expecting one as it happened in Uganda recently?
You know, Anglican Church is a universal church. It is a global church and we usually take decisions that effect the generality of the Anglicans We usually take the matter to the highest body that considers some issues for us. The highest body is the Lambeth, which comes up once in 10 years and usually its con­duct is chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury. This matter was thoroughly and exhaustively discussed in the 1978 Lambeth Conference and the decisions were clear.

They looked at the issue of women becoming Priests from cultural point of view, from theological point of view, i.e., the biblical and also from the traditional. Looking at those key levels of the imaginations, there was a consensus that the issue of female ordination had no hitches theologically, that is, the bible does not seem to have anything against it. But when you look at the cultural side, there are certain cultures that will like to keep women to particular roles. Then traditionally, that is how things have always been done in the church, such a thing was not handed down to the church.

But the fact that it was not handed down to the church don't mean that the church had closed the door for that. So that was how they looked at the three and then they came out with this decision "let those churches within the Anglican Communion who want to proceed with the ordination of women as priests, let them do it with clear conscience but it shouldn't bring about any misunderstanding.

Therefore, if you now want to answer the question, as a church that has the point of unity, you now say that the Anglican Church actually allows women to be ordained priests, but that individual churches making up the Anglican Church are taking their time to weigh the consequences of doing that. That is why for instance, the church in Uganda ordained women priest.

... So that was how they looked at the three and then they came out with this decision "let those churches within the Anglican Communion who want to proceed with the ordination of women as priests, let them do it with clear conscience but it shouldn't bring about any misunderstanding.

For the church in Nigeria does not ordain women as priests but when we meet at a higher level, we do not discriminate. Here in Nigeria, we looked at it last year at the standing committee and we came out with a clear decision, with our women backing us and they, said for us here in Nigeria whether women should come in as priests or not is not their problem. There were far more important things to be sorted out rather than the ordination ofg women as priests, so that should be kept on hold.

I have given you England and the general house official. I have given you particularly our own situation here in Nigeria. Now personally, the advise we are giving, God in his wisdom created the universe through a system and the system is this: In the issue of giving birth and weaning, a man and his wife put hands together for a child to come. Now when you look at the female folk, they are the ones who carry pregnancy for nine (9) months, after which they wean the child for another one to two years.

We are talking about three clear years before somebody is ready now as a child. If you expose women to a steady task that will stop them from playing that god-given role, we may end up leaving ourselves and discover at last that we are disrupting the system.

Nature is a powerful thing. I am pleading with the women. This is no cheating. We are not denying them of anything. When it comes to ministry, women can minister but when it comes to institutionalizing them, that means are imprisoning them.

Contribution of the Anglican church to the physical and spiritual wellbeing of the people?
Actually, I would like to say that I need to see more of government invitations. As a representative, I am not really deputising for all the Christian churches, but I am just a part of that church.

I would like to see the government inviting the church more often on matters relating to the generality of the people. Of course, you know as a human being, there are two aspects of our being: the physical and the spiritual aspect. If we get that right, we will then know that it is always good to get the church involved in whatever the government is doing officially not through the back door.

There were far more important things to be sorted out rather than the ordination ofg women as priests, so that should be kept on hold.

For instance, why should we not have a minister for religious affairs in the nation? Why don't we have a department for religious affairs in the Nation? It is only an adhoc thing. When there is a tragedy somewhere, then some churches will just be brought together and say, please look at that and then at the end of the day nothing happens. There is no known department created and yet there is always reli­gious problem here and there. Most social problem we have always have a religious language. So I like a deeper involvement and partnership between the government and the church.

I have asked the question several times to some of our people on the local level, state level,. And the national level. And the national level and I am disap­pointed that the answer, most of the time is, "well I am not sure this is not a religious matter, leave us, it is political as if human being is only a political entity. Perhaps, this is why we are failing because we think that politics can be divorced from God. We cannot.

So let the church and the government get closer se we can better the lives of the people. I do not have any intention to make those serving in the states, local or Federal Governments to become Christians or Anglicans. I don't have to command them, God gives command­ments. You don't have to be a Christian to have com­mandment over an issue and matter that affects every­body. So let's put our hands together and push this together and forward. And this means trust. Let the mistrust between the government and the church stop. That is why we are suffering. Let's begin to love one another.

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