The Sacred or the Spectacle? Apostolic Nuncio Warns Nigerian Clergy on Liturgy for Profit
“We call it the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. A Priest should be holy, and anything that distracts from that needs to be avoided.”
— Archbishop Michael Francis Crotty, Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria
In a striking intervention aimed at preserving the sanctity of the Catholic liturgy, Archbishop Michael Francis Crotty, the Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria, has denounced the increasing commercialisation of the Eucharist among clergy in the West African nation. Speaking at a clergy formation workshop hosted by the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria on July 16, Crotty decried a growing trend of treating sacraments as revenue opportunities—particularly weddings, funerals, and baptisms¹.
“The liturgy,” he warned, “cannot be taken for granted.” Practices such as prosperity preaching, liturgical showmanship, and the improper use of vestments were singled out as signs of a deeper malaise: the banalisation of the sacred. These abuses, he cautioned, “diminish the sacred character of our worship” and ultimately corrupt the identity of the priesthood itself.
Crotty’s remarks call to mind the repeated warnings of recent popes against reductionism in liturgy—where reverence gives way to entertainment or expediency. Pope Benedict XVI, in his apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, stressed that the Eucharist “is too great a gift to tolerate ambiguity and depreciation”². Similarly, Pope John Paul II warned that liturgical celebrations must “correspond to the holiness of the mysteries which are celebrated”³.
Echoing those teachings, Crotty insisted that holiness, not popularity or profit, must shape priestly ministry. “Where priests are holy,” he said, “holiness flourishes around them.” This reflects the Second Vatican Council’s Presbyterorum Ordinis, which teaches that the holiness of priests is essential for the sanctification of the faithful⁴.
The Nuncio’s words carry added weight in a country where poverty, insecurity, and Pentecostal influence all place pressure on Catholic clergy to compromise tradition. The rise of prosperity theology, especially within Nigerian charismatic movements, has led to confusion among Catholics about the purpose of the Mass and the priest’s role⁵. The temptation to mimic high-energy prosperity services—often rife with staged “healings,” applause, and emotional manipulation—has led some priests to reduce the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to a spectacle, blurring the line between worship and performance⁶.
In tandem with his liturgical warning, Crotty addressed the worsening violence against the Church in Nigeria. Referring to the July 10 attack on the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in the Diocese of Auchi—in which three seminarians were kidnapped and a security guard killed—he questioned the motive behind targeting poor, unarmed clergy-in-training. “These seminarians are not businessmen,” he said. “They have no money. They are not political actors.”⁷
He described Nigeria’s security crisis as a symptom of unchecked criminality and impunity, and called for state accountability: “It is the primary responsibility of the forces to ensure law and order… and justice for the victims of crime.” Reports from NGOs and regional observers confirm that attacks on churches and religious personnel are often ignored or inadequately pursued by Nigerian authorities⁸.
Despite the sobering reality, Crotty called the faithful to prayer and confidence in divine providence. “We live in a situation where things happen that should not happen,” he said, “nevertheless, we must always trust in the power and sovereignty of God, that good always triumphs over evil.”
His message is one of both pastoral concern and doctrinal fidelity—a call for priests to rediscover the radical holiness of their vocation, for bishops to safeguard the sanctity of the liturgy, and for the faithful to resist the lure of spiritual consumerism. At stake is not simply ecclesial decorum, but the soul of the Nigerian Church itself.
Fructus Fidei—fruit of faith—is what Archbishop Crotty implicitly calls forth. Only when the Mass is rightly offered, and the priest rightly conformed to Christ, will the Church in Nigeria bear fruit that endures. 🔝
¹ ACI Africa, “Apostolic Nuncio in Nigeria Calls Out Priests Turning the Eucharist, Church Events into Moneymaking Opportunities,” 17 July 2025.
² Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 2007, §6.
³ John Paul II, Redemptionis Sacramentum, 2004, §5.
⁴ Second Vatican Council, Presbyterorum Ordinis, 1965, §12: “By the sacred ordination and mission which they receive from the bishops, priests are promoted to the service of Christ the Teacher, Priest and King… they grow in holiness through the exercise of their ministry.”
⁵ Cf. Pew Research Center, “Ties That Bind: Faith and Family in a Changing Africa,” 2010; see also Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Pastoral Letter on the Dangers of Prosperity Preaching, 2016.
⁶ Orobator, Agbonkhianmeghe E., The Church as Salt and Light: Path to an African Ecclesiology of Abundant Life, Orbis Books, 2005, esp. pp. 115–119.
⁷ ACI Africa, ibid.
⁸ U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, “2024 Annual Report: Nigeria,” April 2024; Human Rights Watch, “World Report 2023: Nigeria.”
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