Interview Fr. Gregory Obih
Fr. Obih, thank you very much for allowing me to ask you about your history and how you came to the SSPX. Can you first outline this history? How did you come to Tradition at all? How did you meet the Society first?
My contacts with the Society began with a meeting of a Nigerian priest from the Fraternity of St. Peter. This priest had come to America for his studies. While in the United States, he did not like the liturgical abuses in the Novus Ordo, which were more terrible than they were in Nigeria. This encouraged him to go to Tradition, and he decided to join the Fraternity of St. Peter. He returned to Nigeria, where the bishop gave him a specific chapel where he continues to say the traditional Mass. This was the first contact I had to introduce me to Tradition.
This priest and I became friends. My first visit was in 2001, only two years after my ordination. The first traditional Mass I ever saw was the one offered by this priest. I was not immediately attracted to it. In the seminary, we had been taught that the old Mass was bad; that it was good the priest no longer “faced the altar”; that we had deliberately moved away from Latin; thank God Vatican II came because we’ve never had it so good! We were never taught anything good about the traditional Mass.
Did you know Latin at this time?
Yes, we had a bit of Latin in the seminary.
When this priest finished saying Mass, I wanted to know more from him. He gave me a book by Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci, what they call The Ottaviani Intervention. This was still 2001. I went home and read the book. I began to reflect on it. Then he gave me some more literature about Tradition: The Angelus, The Remnant, Catholic Family News. Reading all of this, it took me two years to reflect.
In 2003, I had a month-long vacation which I spent with this priest. He taught me how to say the traditional Mass. He gave me even more literature like Michael Davies’s Pope John’s Council and Pope Paul’s New Mass, Archbishop Lefebvre’s They Have Uncrowned Him and Open Letter to Confused Catholics, and many others. After reading all these, I decided to join the Fraternity of St. Peter in 2003.
I requested permission from my superior. But it was not possible to get permission to join the Fraternity of St. Peter. So I remained in my parish. During 2004, I continued to reflect, and I applied to the Society of St. Pius X in April of that year. I applied to the Society because, having reflected more on the differences between the Fraternity and the Society, I made a choice partially based on Archbishop Lefebvre’s principled defense of the restoration of the dignity of the Catholic priesthood and disciplined religious life. I had been a religious and realized how far things had fallen in my own religious community. Discipline had been eroded. The statutes of the congregation had been relaxed. Democracy was common; there was no proper authority. There was a collapse of authority.
All of these things helped me to see. Open Letter to Confused Catholics was my first contact with Archbishop Lefebvre’s writing. They Have Uncrowned Him was the second. I saw that the Archbishop’s position was more principled in trying to restore the Catholic priesthood, discipline in the liturgy and in doctrine. These three things: discipline, liturgy, and doctrine: this is why I chose the Society.
What is your personal background? Where did you go to seminary? What kind of changes did you have to make when you came to Tradition?
I joined the Augustinian Order in 1991. I was formed in philosophy and theology. After that, I was sent to a novitiate. I made my solemn profession of vows in 1998. I was ordained a priest in 1999. After that, I was assigned to a parish affiliated with the Augustinian Order in the town of Ibusa in Delta State, Nigeria. It was while I was there that I began to study Tradition and where I met the priest from the Fraternity of St. Peter.
As I waited for a reply from the Society, in July 2004 I requested permission to take a sabbatical. This request was granted; I was given permission to take a sabbatical to live with the Fraternity of St. Peter. I went to live with the priest who introduced me to Tradition. While I was there, I learned how to say the traditional Mass better and continued to read all the literature on Catholic Tradition I could find.
It was not easy for me. The bishop of the diocese had told me that he did not want other priests joining this priest from the Fraternity of St. Peter. He told me that the Fraternity existed to bring back to the Church followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The bishop thus advised me to return to my congregation.
Moreover, I gave a conference to the faithful; they asked me to talk about the Mass. After this conference, I mentioned some things about the New Mass that were not pleasing to the authorities. Some of the comments I made went all the way to Cardinal Arinze, the Prefect for the Congregation of the Sacraments. He was angry about what I had said, and he wrote a letter to the bishop of the diocese where the Fraternity of St. Peter was located. He asked the bishop to call me to order. The bishop then wrote to my superior and complained to the Fraternity priest.
I was asked by the bishop to write a letter of apology to the Holy See and the diocese. I was also asked to recant what I said condemning the New Mass and Vatican II. I had mentioned, in my conference, that the liturgical changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council had vitiated the sacredness of the Holy Mass thereby almost emptying it of its power to sanctify. These were the words that the Cardinal underlined and which I had been asked to recant.
Of course, there was a lot of pressure from my religious superior, the bishop of the diocese, and the priest of the Fraternity of St. Peter (with whom I was living), who was afraid that his chapel might be withdrawn from him. So I eventually made some reluctant apologies for what I had said, even though I was not convinced that I had to do that. The whole episode helped me to realize the problem of having to defend the truth today, to stand for Tradition and doctrine. It is not sufficient to defend the traditional Mass; you must also defend doctrine.
How did you then join the Society of St. Pius X? Obviously, we don’t have the same kind of presence in Africa as we do in Europe or America. How did you find us, so to speak?
I had already applied to the Society before I went to live with the priest of the Fraternity of St. Peter. I did not receive a reply to my initial application. Eventually, one of the faithful of the Society who lives in California came to visit this priest from the Fraternity in Nigeria. She goes to Mass both to the Society and the Fraternity. I spoke to her when she was visiting Nigeria and she helped me get in contact with a priest when she returned to the United States.
In the United States, she spoke to Fr. Couture in Los Gatos. Fr. Couture, the District Superior of Asia, was visiting at the time. She told him that she knew of a Nigerian priest who had applied to the Society with no response. She further told him that I was currently living with a priest from the Fraternity of St. Peter. Fr. Couture then took up my case and began to communicate with me by e-mail. From there, once he got to know a bit about me, he reminded Bishop Fellay about my application.
Bishop Fellay responded exactly one year after my application. I was asked to go to Gabon in 2005. I thus went to the Society’s mission in Libreville, Gabon. While I was there I began to properly learn Tradition. I stayed in Gabon for two years; they helped me learn to say the Mass better, and they introduced me to a deeper understanding of the liturgy. It was while I was there, for instance, that I learned of my obligation to pray the whole Breviary daily. I had had no such idea. I also learned many prayers, I helped distribute Communion to the sick, and participated in the liturgical and community life of the Society there.
Also, I would go to Nigeria once every three months to say Mass for some faithful who had remained with me when I left the Fraternity of St. Peter. They had supported me in my decision.
In 2007, after two years in Gabon, I went to Switzerland and met Bishop Fellay. I repeated my intention to join and make an engagement in the Society. He suggested I go to the seminary in Winona in order to take some classes in philosophy and theology to improve my seminary formation. I stayed at the seminary in Winona for two years.
In my first year, I studied metaphysics, Latin, liturgy, ethics, and psychology. In my second year, I took dogma, Canon Law, and moral theology.
Do you know what the future holds for you?
On December 8, 2007, I made my first engagement in the Society. I became a member of the Society with full awareness of my obligations. Having completed my studies in Winona, I was appointed to their priory in Nairobi, Kenya, Our Lady Help of Christians. I will arrive in August. The District Superior of the Society in Africa is very much interested in encouraging vocations from Africa. He has received permission from the Superior General to open a house for the Oblate Sisters of the Society in Kenya. So I will also collaborate with the foundation of these Oblate Sisters there. This will thus be my apostolate.
You mentioned the Fraternity of St. Peter, which helped you know the old Mass. Were there other groups or persons which were important to you in finding Tradition before you came to the Society?
I would mention the books I read, especially those of Michael Davies. They were very helpful in coming to know Tradition. I was interested in his work with Una Voce, although I was never a member. There was also his promotion of the Latin Mass Society too. The priest of the Fraternity in Nigeria made efforts to encourage the faithful to write to their bishops and request the traditional Mass. Of course, Pope John Paul II, in Ecclesia Dei, had already said that those who wished could request the old Mass from their bishops. All the bishops refused to accede to the requests of the faithful.
This also helped me in my decision to join the Society. We are not bogged down by the hierarchy, a hierarchy which is not ready to listen to Rome. Rome says the faithful have the right to request the old Mass from their shepherds; the faithful then go to their bishops, only to be intimidated. Then they are forced to remain with the New Mass. No matter what Rome has said.
How would you characterize the attitudes of the bishops, especially in Nigeria, but in Africa in general, towards the old Mass and Tradition?
In Africa, the bishops are not in favor of Tradition. They are Novus Ordo conservatives; they follow the tempo of Rome. This was especially the case during the pontificate of John Paul II. Many of the current bishops were appointed under him. Many of them are in favor of inculturation; they love the New Mass. They are convinced it encourages participation on the part of the faithful. You find African drums, dancing, and other cultural practices which are allowed. The New Mass has a way of appealing to the people in this way. And they like it because people come and express themselves. Many of the bishops think this is wonderful. For now, at least, they are not supporting Tradition.
What about the general moral situation of the African Church? Sometimes, in the news, it seems rather difficult, if not a catastrophe. For example, the origin of AIDS. I imagine it must be difficult to be a Catholic priest in many of these countries.
In Africa, priests have to deal with the state of the continent, the situation of the modern world, and Westernization, which is eroding African culture. Many of the various tribes in Africa have high cultural practices like a respect for marriage and the punishment of immoral behaviors. But urbanization, Westernization, the coming of new technologies, like computers, and materialism all combine with the collapse of authority in the Church to affect the environment there. The fact that no one is in control affects the life of the priests. This affects the identity of the priests.
When you say “Westernization,” you don’t mean Catholic missionary work, but, rather, the subculture of the West, such as computers, television, the Internet, and so on? These are more the negative products of Western culture.
Yes, this is what I mean, the negative products of Western culture. I especially refer to Western countries, previously Catholic nations in Europe which have lost the Faith, which promote secularism. All of the things I mentioned above have combined to affect Christian life and ministry in Africa.
You joined the SSPX before the lifting of the excommunications last January. What is your assessment of this latest development between Rome and the SSPX?
The lifting of the so-called excommunications, which the Society never accepted in the first place, developed on the part of Pope Benedict XVI, especially since he has been there from the beginning. In the 1980’s, he was negotiating with Archbishop Lefebvre. Now that he is Pope, he decided to remedy a question of justice concerning what was done in 1988 for the consecration of bishops. It is a positive development. Many people accused us of being excommunicated, so this development is helpful for many people in the Novus Ordo at least to approach the Society and see what is happening. Many faithful have been kept away by the libel that we are excommunicated. Now, some will have the courage to come closer and to see the Society for what it is. Perhaps it will help them to return to Tradition.
In Africa, it is a positive development for Catholic Tradition as well. The hierarchy follows whatever comes from Rome. If the Pope says it, it is good. It is important in the battle for the restoration of the Catholic Faith.
However, it was evidently not the most important factor for your decision...
True. When I wanted to join the Society, it was brought to my knowledge that the Society was not in good favor with the hierarchy of the Church. I was told to be aware of what I was doing. And I originally accepted that. When I decided to join the Society, the libel of excommunication still existed. But I was convinced of what I was doing, especially after studying the life of Archbishop Lefebvre.
The year I went to Gabon, Fr. Schmidberger sent me a copy of Bishop Tissier de Mallerais’s biography of Archbishop Lefebvre. After I read it, I was no longer deterred by the libel of excommunication. I knew it was a principled position where the history of the Church was being made. In the Catholic Church, truth will eventually triumph over falsehood.
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