The National Catholic Secretariat says a man entangled in a paternity case is not known to the church as a Catholic Priest.

Rev Fr Yves-Lucien Evaga Njana, a Cameroonian Catholic priest, and diplomat based in Ghana has been accused of neglecting responsibility towards an eight-month-old child he allegedly fathered.

The juvenile court in Accra is set to hear the case of the Reverend Father’s irresponsibility on Wednesday, April 20, 2016.

The plaintiff in the case is 24-year-old Josephine Ganyoame. She is seeking a declaration that the respondent’s irresponsibility breaches the rights of the child to a name, basic necessities of life, welfare and social protection.

But Rev. Fr. Nicholas Afriyie, General Secretary of National Catholic Secretariat, told Joy News they cannot trace Rev Fr Yves-Lucien Evaga Njana’s name in their books.

“He should be able to respond to things for the National Catholic Secretariat, we don’t have a staff like that. We don’t have any staff called Father Lucien at the secretariat so I can’t speak for him.”

Rev. Fr. Nicholas Afriyie, however, stated cautiously that the authenticity of what is being claimed by Josephine should first be established before drawing any conclusion.

He would also prefer the court is allowed to handle the case and whatever judgment it arrives would be respected by all.

He maintained that the stand of the Catholic Church is clear when it comes to marriage; a priest is not supposed to have any woman with him, he said, adding that those who go contrary to that are sanctioned.

Though this is not the first time a Catholic Priest has been accused of breaking his celibacy in the world, Rev. Fr. Nicholas Afriyie rejected the assertion that Priests are finding it difficult to go by the oath of celibacy.

“Not all; in every society we have people who will go against the rules of the society,” he noted how isolated the cases are.