The Alleged Suicide Of Father Kevin Abakisi

NEWS COMMENTARY IS ON THE SHOCKING NEWS OF THE ALLEGED SUICIDE OF Fr. KELVIN ABAKISI 
 
The Catholic clergy was  in  the news yesterday  with a big bang. It was the incredible  news  of one of its young clerics,  Rev. Fr. Kelvin Abakisi who was reported  to have taken his own life. The story did not only spread to a sensational pitch but also left  many people wondering that may have driven a man of God  to take his own life. 

The issues at stake indeed make for interesting deliberation and examination as  the Catholic Church has an enviable reputation among the  churches in the world. 

The election of its Popes is  doubtlessly  a fascinating world event.  Its role in the life of people worldwide is proverbially explicit  including  voicing out its views even in respect of the social order.  It was therefore a matter of grave concern that  a member  of its clergy would openly act contrary to the basic tenets that the church professes. 

Fr. Kelvin Abakisi's suicide
allegation  has left many questions unanswered. If indeed it was even proven to be a case of suicide we must not hastily  come to the conclusion of judging him. Besides,  we do not have full knowledge  of the young priest's general mental disposition  or whether  it was  a
new case in his psychological disposition or even in the extreme, the work of evil powers. 

Suffice to understand that given the circumstances of his movements in his last days, no apparent  reasons could be found  for the explanation of the unfortunate  incident,  for
as Archbishop Philip Naameh explained in a radio interview, the young priest did not resist his transfer to the St. Victor's  Seminary toteach,  but opined that  Fr. Kelvin  may  have been under some stress.

Obviously one is to fully baffled and confounded considering the fact that it is a great honour for a Catholic Priest to be selected among his confreres to train candidates for the priesthood.  Indeed the Second Vatican Council in its document known as Sacrosanctum Concilium, that is, the Sacred Council, has indicated that priests going to teach in the seminary must be selected from among the best of
the best.  

It was therefore a great honour for Fr. Kelvin Abakisi to be transferred to the seminary as a  teacher and formator.  The fact
that Fr. Kelvin really reported at the seminary to begin his work  was also a sign of his adherence to the vow of obedience which he took on his ordination day.  

We have not heard of any reaction to his posting or unfavourable feet dragging or confrontation in his new stint.  In fact, his posting to the seminary was rather a promotion as trust put
in him to train worthy priests for the Church.  Besides, Fr.  Kelvin was fully aware of the implications of the very important promise of obedience to his Bishop and the jurisdictional prerogative of his bishop to send him anywhere at any time the situation demands.  It is therefore most unlikely that such a young and enthusiastic priest
would protest any action of his Bishop with such severe self-indictment without a resort to dialogue with his Bishop or
confiding in any of his  confreres,  knowing well  the peculiar burdens of the sacerdotal life which is full of sacrifices and even dark moments of doubts.  

Under these circumstances, one finds comments of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle,  on the issue very apt and revealing, that  it would be
quite odd for a priest to take his life as a result  of frustration or other pressures which are not unknown to priests from their daily experiences and the history of the Church.

Looking more closely at the suicide act itself,  Fr. Bernard Haring,  a major moral theologian
of the church said  in his book   Medical Ethics that "one who
consciously and freely destroys his life is nothing other than a
craven deserter who refuses to fail the trail of the pilgrim.  

He continues with even greater emphasis that "inspite of the extreme gravity of the sin of suicide, taken objectively, we may not and cannot  judge the subjective guilt of anyone who has wrought self-destruction or attempted to do so". 

In many cases there is an acute mental disturbance. Father Garing  concludes that  "in fact, in justice and charity, we always assume this to be the case where those whom we know to have led a virtuous life have committed suicide in a moment of deep depression or under terrible compulsion.  

We must however not abandon other possibilities such as assailant
manipulations.  For now, we cannot tell what happened to Father Kelvin during his last moments on earth. We believe as Christians that he had hope in the resurrection and something strange to us , but known to
God alone might  have happened.

No matter the outcome of the
investigations in the said circumstances, we the laity appeal to the Catholic hierarchy to give Father Kelvin a fitting ecclesiastical burial. 

The Catholic Church in Ghana must remain united more than ever
before in this moment of deep grief and apparent embarrassment, but also do the homework of purging the Church. Hypocrisy in the Church must be dealt with and the self-righteous attitude must cease. 

The Church must begin to look upon its strayed ones with compassion and dance to the reality of the times.

Fortunately, the Church now has a
progressive and open-minded Pope from the Jesuit tradition who has
called for transparency, simplicity and sincerity in tackling the pastoral challenges confronting the Church everywhere. 

As for the late Father Kelvin Abakisi, who interacted with many people in his lifetime,  May Christ remember at least his good deeds and grant him a peaceful judgement.

BY JOHN KUMADO, A JOURNALIST