Chris Okotie says Pope is perverting gospel of Jesus Christ

By Ngozi Akums

Rev. Chris Okotie has defended his controversial statement on the Catholic Church, saying the Church’s leadership under Pope Francis is perverting the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The General overseer of Household of God Church stirred controversy in December when he said ‘Catholics will go to hell’ labelling the current Pope Francis an ‘anti-Christ’.

‘It is because the church perverts the gospel of Jesus Christ and that perversion is located in the leadership’, Okotie told Punch Newspaper.

The flamboyant Pastor also added that the Catholic Church is replacing Jesus Christ with Mary. ‘There are many good Christians within the Catholic Church who are not aware of the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, that has substituted Mary for Jesus, in what is known as the hyperdulia of the Virgin Mary. Salvation for them is not through Jesus alone but in accordance with what Pope Francis recently announced to the world. That, in itself, is a direct violation of the sanctity of the scriptures.”

Okotie recently announced that he will be vying for the presidential seat for the third time come 2015.