Thieves, Desecration, and Im/Potency of Catholic Sacrament in Nigeria -By Leo Igwe

The theft of a monstrance containing the ‘Blessed Sacrament’ has sent shockwaves across the Catholic community in Owerri, Imo State. A statement released on April 30, 2026, by the secretary of the archdiocese, Fr Patrick Mbarah, decried the ‘desecration’ of the Chapel of Adoration of St Mulumba Parish, Wetheral Road, Owerri, in the wee hours of April 29, 2026. According to the statement, some unknown person(s) opened some parts of the roof of the building, jumped into the Chapel of Adoration through the ceiling, and made away with the monstrance containing the blessed sacrament.

Yes, the blessed sacrament was stolen. In response to what the statement described as ‘reckless irreverence’, the archbishop asked the parishioners at St Mulumba to observe a one-week prayer of reparation from May 1st to 8th from 4 pm to 6 pm daily. He enjoined priests to ensure that the blessed sacrament was secured, and “must never be left unattended during Exposition”.

Non-Catholics or those without a catholic background may not understand the gravity of this incident. According to catholic teaching, the Blessed Sacrament is the body of Jesus, an embodied God. Some unknown persons made away with the body of Jesus Christ? Catholics believe that the blessed sacrament is not an ordinary wafer but the body of Jesus, whom they believe is god the Son. The question on the lips of many who heard about this incident is: How could a human steal the body of the catholic God? Or better, how could the Catholic god allow itself to be stolen?

A video circulated on social media showed someone who broke into the Chapel and used a stick to hit the monstrance, causing it to fall to the ground before he took it away with the ‘blessed sacrament’. So if the blessed sacrament were spiritually potent as catholics believe, how was it possible for the thief to knock down the sacrament and take it away like a piece of wood?

What was the catholic deity doing during this incident? One could understand that the parish priest, Raymond Madu, was sleeping. Was Jesus also sleeping? Why did God, god the Father, and the Holy Spirit, as Catholics believe, not intervene and stop the thief from taking away the body of Jesus? How does the belief in the potency of the sacrament make sense in this case?
Is this incident an act of ‘desecration’ or a demonstration of the impotency of this catholic dogma and superstition?

Centuries ago, Western missionaries introduced the catholic faith as a better and superior faith. They coerced Africans to abandon their traditional faiths and embrace the superstition that wafers turn into the body of Christ during the mass. This sacramental idea has no basis in reason, science, or reality.

Catholics believe in the divinity of the sacrament. That the wafer embodies the divine, the Christian divinity. Catholic faithful pray and adore whenever and wherever the blessed sacrament is displayed, as was the case at this parish in Owerri. However, this incident has illustrated the impotency of the sacrament, and also the catholic deity. According to the teachings of the Catholic Church, the Blessed Sacrament should protect the faithful. It is not believers who should secure the sacrament. Catholics should abandon the misconceptions about the sacrament. The Catholic church should stop deceiving and misleading the faithful and promoting what is not true, fact, or real.

In addition, catholic indoctrination has led many to think that the Blessed Sacrament has some ritualistic value. That is mere fantasy. Some people suspect that the thieves might use the sacrament for some ritual or occult sacrifice. Both Catholics and ritualists are mistaken and ignorant. There is no evidence that the ‘blessed sacrament’ has the potency to protect itself, protect others, or yield ritual money or fortune.

Catholics and other ritualists should awaken to this realization or rue it.

Leo Igwe, a former catholic seminarian, holds an MA in Philosophy (Calabar) and a Ph.D in Religious Studies(Bayreuth).