A Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. John Chinenye Oluoma, has dismissed the popular belief in “stolen destiny” as unfounded and misleading, describing it as a product of gullibility among some Christians.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Oluoma criticised the tendency of many believers to attribute personal setbacks or life difficulties to the spiritual theft of their destinies.

The cleric cited the biblical story of Esau and Jacob, where Esau lost his birthright and paternal blessing to his younger brother Jacob, as an example often misused by proponents of the “stolen destiny” narrative.

“If Esau lived today and ran to one of your ‘powerful prophets’, he would have been diagnosed of ‘stolen destiny’ and then given ‘destiny recovery’ prescriptions of marathon fasts, prayers, deliverance and seed sowing,” he wrote.

The priest noted that despite Esau’s loss, he still prospered materially, highlighting that when Jacob returned in Genesis 32, Esau had 400 men with him—a sign of his wealth and strength. He added that in Genesis 33, Esau even declined Jacob’s offer of gifts, saying, “I have plenty, keep what is yours.”

Oluoma emphasised that God’s plans are not limited by human actions or deception and urged Christians to stop equating destiny with material wealth.

“What Jacob took from Esau was their biological father’s blessings. God is not Isaac who got old, blind, needed bush meat pepper soup to bless, and got deceived by a woman and her favourite son,” he stated.

The priest warned that those who peddle the concept of “stolen destiny” are the ones truly misleading others and potentially stealing their focus and clarity.

“In fact, if there’s such a thing as stolen destiny, it would be those who programmed you to believe your destiny was stolen that are actually stealing your destiny,” he said.