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According to a report by NewTelegraph, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Diocese of Isiala Ngwa in Abia State has dismissed four priests for allegedly engaging in homos*xuality.
This is contained in a dismissal notice signed by the Bishop in-charge of the Diocese, Rt. Rev. Temple Nwaogu.
It was also sent to all the church branches under the diocese.
The priests are listed as Rev. Canon Emmanuel Nwankwo, Rev. Kelechi Nwachukwu, Rev. Sunday Azubuike and Rev. Chris Achonye.
The dismissal came with automatic withdrawal of their licences.
The notice said the priests were dismissed following a proper investigation and recommendation submitted by the panel of enquiry which found them guilty of homos*xual practices.
The notice also warned any member of the public dealing with the said priests to be careful, stressing that such could tarnish the image of the church of God.
When contacted on the phone, Bishop Nwaogu confirmed the dismissal of the four priests.
The bishop said the church did what was necessary in order to protect the body of Christ.
He said: “It is true. But we have done what we supposed to do as a church. We didn’t give the information for any other individual. The information was passed to all our bishops and our archbishops.
“We have a procedure in the Anglican Church. If there is any dismissal in the church, we forward to our primate and then our bishops so that the information will get to them.
“That is all we want. We don’t want any further thing. We have done what was expected of us to protect the body of Christ. That is the procedure for us in the Anglican Church.”
The dismissal came up barely a week after the Arochukwu/Ohafia Diocese of the Anglican Communion reportedly dismissed two priests for a similar offense.