24 July 2024

Fr. Iheanyi Enwerem died in Nigeria on July 24, 2024, where he had been teaching at Spiritan University Nneochi (SUN) in the country’s Catholic Diocese of Enugu. Born in 1950, Fr. Enwerem entered the Dominican Province of St. Albert the Great (Chicago) through its mission in Nigeria, making first vows in 1973. When the Province's mission in Nigeria became the independent Province of St. Joseph the Worker in 1993, Fr. Enwerem elected to remain a member of the Chicago province, though he stayed in Nigeria.

Fr. Iheanyi helped establish the Dominican Institute in 1994 and served as the institute’s founding president for six years before accepting a role at CSN, the administrative headquarters of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). Established by the Dominican Province of St. Joseph the Worker in Ibadan, the Institute has distinguished itself in offering Philosophy and Theology not only to young men training to become Priests, but also to women Religious, Catholic Laity and people of other faiths.

“We have lost a great preacher and great scholar,” said Fr. Mekas Nwosu who took over from Fr. Iheanyi at the Dominican Institute and served as the Institute’s president from 2016 to 2022. Fr. Iheanyi was a controversial Priest, his confrere further said, adding that the late Priest’s critique of the role of the Church in Nigeria’s 1999 elections ended his role as Director of the Department of Church and State of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN).

“Fr. Iheanyi was a blunt priest and he criticized without fear. I remember that the Catholic Church was very active in monitoring Nigeria’s 1999 elections which were very flawed. Fr. Iheanyi wrote a book ‘Crossing The Rubicon’ in which he bluntly pointed out the role of the Church in the flawed elections. The Bishops were not happy about the book and Fr. Iheanyi had to leave the Secretariat,” Fr. Mekas narrated to ACI Africa on July 25.

After leaving the Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat surrounded by controversy, he went to Canada for a while and returned to Nigeria to teach at the Spiritan University Nneochi (SUN) in the country’s Catholic Diocese of Enugu. It was while teaching at the Spiritan University that he developed health complications and died on July 24. He is buried in Nigeria.