AFRICAN JOURNAL OF CONTEXTUAL THEOLOGY

The clergy as part of Christ’s faithful have a natural right of association to groups and initiatives whose ends are in harmony with the Christian vocation like evangelization of the world according to canon 215. At the same time, canon 287§2 clearly forbids clerics to have an active role (partem activam) in political parties or in the leadership of trade unions unless, in the judgment of the competent ecclesiastical authority, the rights of the Church or the common good demand it. Already, canon 285 establishes a broader prohibitive norm, obliging clerics to « shun completely everything that is unbecoming to their state, in accordance with the provisions of particular law ». On the terrain of Nigerian politics, we observe a contrasting implementation of these canonical dispositions. Notwithstanding the decision of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) in 2024 that members of the clergy should not get involved in partisan politics, opinions still diverge. While some sympathise with a different view on such a deterrent canonical norm, others explore the limits of the « missionary necessity » clause in favour of « common good » to be active in politics. Consequently, the canonical scenario portends to a certain degree of confusion. This article attempts to highlight the « mens legislatoris » of the supreme legislator of 1983. While the defence of human dignity and the common good belongs indisputably to the priestly mission, the assumption of an active political role almost inevitably compromises the supra-partes character of the clerical ministry as demanded by the Gospel and codified in canon 287 §2. Could it not be that the canon, though appears as a legalistic rigidity, portrays an act of evangelical wisdom protecting both the freedom of the faithful and the transcendent witness of the priesthood in deeply divided societies?

Open Full Text (PDF)