Why The Anglican Church Lost Igboland To The Roman Catholic Missionaries

By Ekene Ugwuanyi

The Church of England (Anglican) under the auspices of Church Missionary Society (CMS) had the opportunity of taking over the whole of Igboland in the early 19th century through this man, Bishop Ajayi Crowther, before the French Roman Catholic missionaries led by Rev. Fr. Lutz found there way down here in 1885.

Do you know why the Roman Catholic Church took over? Simply because the Church of England frustrated the efforts of Ajayi Crowther when he demanded financial assistance to propagate the gospel. Why? Because he was a black man. In fact, there was a protest in Europe by the whites as to why the blacks should be ordained bishop.

Bishop Ajayi Crowther and his fellow ex-slaves suffered too much as they struggled to reach out to the hinterlands of the Lower Niger to preach the gospel. But the Roman Catholic missionaries soon took over because they received excess financial assistance from Rome and France they used to complement their preaching by establishing schools, hospitals and rendering many humanitarian services that required money.
Before the Church of England could reinforce and send the white missionaries, it was already too late. Bishop Shanahan, a white Roman Catholic missionary already had a strong footing in Igboland. He was invited by King Onyeama N’ Eke of Udi establish a missionary school there as the king was not satisfied with the Church Missionary Society who earlier came because they were blacks. The king wondered how these blacks could successfully teach English to his subjects to the best standard when the whites themselves were there. The whites were basically found among the Roman Catholics who were sponsored by Rome.

It was when Rev. T. J. Dennis, a German, came to Onitsha for the Church Missionary Society and the whole scenario changed. According to the Archives Hub, ‘Thomas John Dennis (1869-1917) of St Leonards, a gardener, was accepted as a missionary by the CMS in 1893. He went to West Africa and was assigned to the Niger Mission. However, he remained for some time in Sierra Leone as acting Vice-Principal of Fourah Bay College. He was ordained a priest by the Bishop of Sierra Leone in 1894 and then proceeded to the Niger where he served at Onitsha. He was appointed as Archdeacon of the Upper Niger in 1905. ‘

He led the group that translated the Bible to Igbo language. That Igbo Bible you are reading (the first Igbo Bible) was edited by T. J. Dennis.

When they were taking the translated manuscript to Europe for publication, their boat capsized and Dennis and his wife fell into the sea. The translated manuscript of the Bible floated on the water. When a rope was thrown to Dennis as he struggled in the sea with his wife, he gave it to his wife who clung to it and was rescued. Dennis died. The translated version was later published.

In order to remember Dennis for his services towards the propagation of the Anglican Church under the auspices of Church Missionary Society, a school was named after him in Onitsha. That school is Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS). Chinua Achebe was once admitted to study in the school. The school is there in Onitsha unto this day.
In 2015, the Pulse online news reported that the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby issued a formal apology for what the Church of England did to Ajayi Crowther, the Yoruba ex-slave. According to the online news, Archbishop Justin Welby, who was preaching at a Thanksgiving and Repentance Service in commemoration of Bishop Ajayi Crowther’ 150th anniversary, said:

‘This is a service of thanksgiving and repentance. Thanksgiving for the extraordinary life, which we commemorate and repentance, shame and sorrow for Anglicans who are reminded of the sin of many of their ancestors. We in the Church of England need to say sorry that someone was properly and rightly consecrated Bishop and then betrayed and let down and undermined. It was wrong.’

Archbishop Welby added: ‘In spite of immense hardship and despite the racism of many whites, he
evangelized so effectively that he was eventually ordained bishop, over many protests. He led his missionary diocese brilliantly but was in the end falsely accused and had to resign, not long before his death.’
The Church of England would have taken over the whole Of Igboland had it been that Ajayi Crowther received the necessary cooperation from the Church of England. They didn’t because he was a black man. Bishop Ajayi Crowther later died of a stroke after resigning.