Damning widespread criticisms
continue to hit a statement credited
to the controversial preacher and
televangelist, declaring that
all “Catholics will go to
hell.” Indeed, this seems to be
threatening to take the shine of the
annual Karis Award.
The event is a brain child of Okotie
who established it to honour
Nigerians who have excelled in
various fields, but who may not
have been recognised by the larger
society.
The pastor is alleged to have made
the remarks while delivering a
sermon last Sunday. The
controversial statement partly goes
thus, “The Catholic church is a
counterfeit church set up by Satan.
Catholics bow to idols and crucify
Jesus every Sunday when they eat
bread claiming they are eating
Jesus’ body.”
Okotie tried to justify his claims by
adding that his statements are “not
out of disrespect but out of
respect for the word of God.”
Apart from the fact that he has not
debunked the claim, a post on his
Facebook account on Tuesday
afternoon reinforces the argument.
It simply read, “Re- Catholicism:
Truth is bitter. It lacks
saccharine delights.”
The statement has further led to
more outrage by his Facebook fans
and other aggrieved persons, just as
his Facebook page has been
besieged by angry Nigerians who
have failed to see reasons with him.
Not surprising, most of the
comments have been
uncomplimentary as the Man of
God has been tagged with
unprintable names. The ensuing
controversy has also pitched Okotie
and Catholic faithful against one
another on Twitter and Facebook.
A group called Nigerians Catholics
on Facebook have issued a
statement to this effect. The body
claimed that Okotie was simply
seeking cheap publicity in its
statement.
The administrator of the page
wrote, “The unguarded utterances
of Chris Okotie to fellow Christians
who chose to practise their dogma
in their own way shows how
irresponsible and ill-mannered he
is.
“Antagonising another church with a
different principle of worshiping,
but with no difference in faith
professed, portrays Christ Okotie in
bad light and casts negative
shadows on his purported ministry
in Christendom.
“Chris Okotie should know that if
over 1 billion Catholics will go to
hell because of the way they
worship their God, he too is not
exempted.
“I want to state clearly to Chris
Okotie that over 1 billion Catholics
going to hell will only happen in the
figment of his imagination.
“In fact, if I am to use what is
written in the Bible concerning
marriage and divorce to humanly
judge Chris Okotie, then he is
already number one candidate of
hell.”
On his part, Kingsley Williams
wrote, “ l think we all need to pray
for Pastor Chris; honestly, before it
gets out of hand.”
Ifeoma Goodluck, only offered
prayers for the Catholic church, as
she also posted, “No weapon
formed against Catholic Church shall
prosper, In Jesus name. Amen.’’
However, some people came to the
defence of the controversial pastor,
with one of them being Wilfa
Wilfred, who simply said, “Please,
insulting Chris and calling him
names shows a lack of faith by baby
Christians. Just pray to God to
forgive him. I am not a catholic but
it is only God that knows his true
worshipers.”
Just like Wilfred, a certain Peter
Edaile also stated on Facebook, “It
also lacks sugar and honey delights
but contains salt.”
Enough on the controversial
statements, anyway.
Mixed reactions have also greeted
what many members of the the
public termed a decision to hold a
beauty pageant in the church this
Sunday. But the church has since
taken to its official Facebook to
explain the concept behind what is
perceived to be a beauty pageant.
It explained that the competition
tagged Queen Esther pageant
competition is geared towards
selecting an ambassador for the
church.
“The evening usually features the
parade and display of beautiful
women in costumes inspired by
popular female bible characters. The
contestant with the most creative
costume is then crowned as the
Queen Esther and gets a cash prize
of one million naira,” the post read.
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