Catholic Youth Deny Issuing Statement Against Onaiyekan
The Catholic Youth Organisation of Nigeria (CYON) has denied issuing any statement on political neutrality of the Church following recent altercation between Cardinal John Onaiyekan with the presidency over the state of affairs in the country.
The CYON said that a statement circulating on social media and attributed to it was fake .
The viral statement was signed “Yours fraternally in Christ” without any named official.
It claimed to represent the position of Catholic youths on political neutrality and urged church leaders to refrain from partisan political comments.
However, Mr Gosife Eze, CYON national president, dismissed the statement as fake and urged members of the public to disregard it.
The fake statement surfaced amid public debate over comments by Onaiyekan on President Bola Tinubu’s reaction to the Catholic Bishops presentation on the state of the nation, when they visited him at the presidential villa.
The remarks drew criticism from the presidency, with the president’s media officers trying to rubbish the claims made by the Bishops and amplified by Onaiyekan in a television interview after the meeting with Tinubu.
In response to the controversy, the Catholic Laity Council of Nigeria (CLCN) defended Onaiyekan, saying his comments were motivated by concern for Nigeria’s future rather than malice.
The council maintained that the cardinal’s intervention was intended to call the nation’s leaders to conscience and should not be interpreted as an attack on the government.
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