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Tag: catholic

  • Catholic cleric sues for peace

    The Director of Social Communication, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Msgr. Gabriel Osu, has urged political parties participating in Osun supplementary election to refrain from actions that may incite violence among their followers.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the Osun governorship election inconclusive on Sunday.

    INEC said that the difference between the two leading parties, the APC and the PDP, was less than the total number of votes cancelled hence a supplementary election was fixed for today (Thursday, Sept.  27).

    The PDP, after final collation in Osun led its closest challenger, the APC, by 353 votes, while 3,498 votes were cancelled.

    In an interview with NAN yesterday, Osu said there was need for caution, as any mistake made in Osun may trigger reaction that would spill over to other states and eventually Nigeria as a whole.

  • Imo Catholic faithful protest killings, poor governance

    The Archbishop of Owerri Catholic Diocese, Most Reverend Anthony Obinna, Tuesday led hundreds of Catholic Faithful on a procession against the continued killing of Christians and other innocent Nigerians by herdsmen and Boko Haram insurgents in the Northern parts of the country.

    The long procession started from the Assumpta Cathedral and went through major streets within the state capital, resulting in traffic gridlock that lasted for several hours.

    The mournful Catholics called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign if his administration can no longer protect the lives and property of Nigerians.

     The protesters displayed placards with various inscriptions such as “Catholics are against violence and killing of Priests’, ‘President Buhari resign if…’, ‘Government restrain the herdsmen, ‘Stop the bloodshed, ‘Release Leah Sharibu’, among others.

    Archbishop Obinna who addressed newsmen shortly after the procession, regretted that many families have lost members to the rampaging herdsmen, stating that, “we are having killings which doesn’t show that we have left the military era”.

    According to him, “there have been intertribal marriages in Nigeria and the people have lived in harmony until the rampaging herdsmen made cohabitation an issue”
    The Archbishop charged President  Muhammodu Buhari to rise up to his responsibility of  protection  lives and properties, saying “we want President Buhari to disarm these violent herdsmen and criminals. We know he is doing something but we need it to be more visible and impacting”.

    The cleric added further that, “President Buhari should know that he should be a father to everyone and not some as perceived. His subtle and real statements should be to protect every Nigerian”.

    The Archbishop further charged security agencies to ensure adequate protection of lives and property of Nigerians at all times, advising that “they should not harbour vipers as alleged by Gen T.Y. Danjuma , President Buhari and the security agencies should be on the same page”.

    The Cleric also charged President Buhari to reduce the influence of money on Nigerian politics, opining that until that is done, the wrong people will continue to occupy positions of leadership at the detriment of the entire country.

  • Catholic bishops confront Buhari over performance

    Catholic bishops confront Buhari over performance

    Govt tackling challenges, says SGF Mustapha

    Catholic cleric John Cardinal Onaiyekan yesterday lashed out at the Federal Government over its performance.

    But two government officials disagreed with the man of God. Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha agreed that there were challenges, which he said the government was tackling.

    Besides, Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed said Nigeria is in safe hands, with President Muhammadu Buhari in the driver’s seat.

    The Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Abuja said Nigerians deserved better governance.

    Cardinal  Onaiyekan, in a homily delivered at the opening Mass of the first 2018 plenary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), said the nation had slipped to the verge of misery.

    The clergyman said in the last three years, Nigerians had been hearing a lot about change, but got little of it.

    In Cardinal  Onaiyekan’s view, any change in human affairs must necessarily start with a change of heart.

    But Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha who represented President Muhammadu Buhari, said the government had done its best to address the issues affecting Nigerians.

    Mustapha said the CBCN was the only Christian platform that gave the president a listening ear prior to the 2015 presidential election.

    Mustapha added that the president believed that the CBCN is a strategic partner in building the nation and noted that it has a lot to offer the nation.

    “And for that reason, he remains eternally grateful. And I remember at that engagement, they asked very pertinent questions – direct, bullets to the face. And he provided answers. And because of that reason, he believes that the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria is a strategic partner in the enterprise of growing the Nigeria nation and he believes that they have a lot to offer,” Mustapha said.

    He cited the recent visit of the Catholic bishops to the president and said he was giving the issues they raised priority attention.

    He said the government was on its toes, addressing security challenges. Perpetrators of violent crimes will be made to face the law as the Federal Government is taking measures to stem the tide of insecurity, Boss said.

    Cardinal Onaiyekan said:  ”We do well therefore to remind ourselves of our need for repentance in the way we think, in the things that we do, in our entire attitude to life in ourselves and in our relations with all our neighbours. But this is not only for us who are Christians and Catholics. It is for all men and women of our nation in this era of general confusion and near chaos, anarchy and doom.

    “Yes, our nation is in a state of uncertainty and confusion. A few things are going well in the society and the economy for which we thank God and congratulate our leaders. They tell us that they are doing their best. But a lot still needs to be done and too many problems have been left to fester. Our nation surely deserves far better than it is now getting in terms of good governance, social justice and peace and minimum of well being for our people,” Cardinal Onaiyekan said.

    He recalled that the Buhari administration came into power three years ago with a promise to change Nigeria for better in all aspects, adding that having tried the two major political parties and found neither of them up to the nation’s expectation, the nation is on the verge of despair.

    The former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said so far the government had spent so much time and energy demonising its predecessor that it seemed to have forgotten its promise of a better life for Nigerians.

    “It has, unfortunately, allowed the initial massive goodwill it enjoyed to be depleted, almost to non-existence. It is no wonder that many Nigerians are looking for a new political organisation that can truly bring about genuine change for the better. Having tried our two major political parties and found none of them up to our expectation, the nation is on the verge of despair,” Cardinal Onaiyekan added.

    He said irrespective of the situation, Nigerians must not allow despair and frustration to overwhelm them, noting that the

    “Another election is fast approaching. We must seize this God-given opportunity to radically change things around. We should no longer allow politics to remain business as usual in the hands of the same gang of speculators and opportunists. We must change the rule of the game, not the faces of the players.

    “Politics is not for miserable people seeking a way out of poverty, nor for selfish business people looking for an easy way to maximise profit by manipulating the system in their favour. Less still is it for the corruptly rich-seeking refuge from just accountability. Rather, it is for altruistic men and women with the talent, conviction and desire to contribute to making our nation a better home for all of us.

    “We must therefore recover the genuine sense of politics as a noble vocation to serve the common good. Nigerians should stop complaining and get involved in the often rough arena of politics. It is only then that a new kind of politics as service to the people will emerge and real change for the better will be achieved.

    The President of the CBCN, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, told the congregation that the Church’s sermon was not borne out of ill-will, but because the Church wants things to be good for the nation and that when the Church preaches, it is telling the government to go and re-strategise.

    Rev. Kaigama said the Church was not speaking in a disrespectful way, or because it wants to attack or demonise or bring down anybody.

    “We want to inspire you, let you know like John the Baptist, to go and tell authority that this is what is needed, this is what we at the grassroots are saying. When you take it like that, you will even do better.

    “But when you take it with a negative mind, you say, ‘oh, these people hate us, the Catholic Church don’t like us, they attack us all the time’. For God’s sake, if you listen to us, to all we have been saying, our communiqués from 1960 to date have been dealing with social issues and how to improve Nigeria,” Rev. Kaigama said.

    Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu maintained that the Buhari administration had done well, particularly in infrastructural development.

    Kalu mentioned the Second Niger Bridge; Enugu-Onitsha Expressway; Enugu-Port Harcourt-Okigwe; Aba-Umuahia Expressway. He said the president was doing everything within his power to salvage the economy.

    Speaking with reporters, Kalu prayed for the good of the country and wished Nigerians well, that they can enjoy the dividends of democracy.

    He said the APC had only been in government for just three years, adding that another party had been in power for 16 years.

    Kalu added that going by the infrastructural development of the APC-led government, the party was on top gear, even as he concluded that the APC has done a lot in three years.

    “This is not media hype. I am not a spokesman for the president. Everybody knows that I speak the truth. APC has done very well. I will take a look at my own side of Nigeria. The Second Niger Bridge is being constructed now; Enugu-Onitsha Expressway is being built now on a very high thickness; Enugu-Port Harcourt-Okigwe; Aba-Umuahia Expressway is on top speed. So, to me, we are on top gear. And other places I have gone, the roads are being constructed,” Kalu said.

    Also at the Mass were All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun and his wife, Victoria; Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Science and Technology Ogbonnaya Onu; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Audu Ogbeh.

    Former Senate President David Mark and wife Helen; Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong; Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria Most Revd Antonio Filipazzi; President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Revd Samson Ayokunle; German Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Bernhard Stephen Schlagneck and Primate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria Dr Samuel Emeka Kanu Uche, among others.

  • ‘Be wary of easy sex, drugs, money’, pope warns

    ‘Be wary of easy sex, drugs, money’, pope warns

    Catholics should be wary of easy sex, drugs and money offered by “false prophets,” Pope Francis warned on Tuesday, in a message for Lent.

    Lent is a period of penance observed in the six weeks leading up to Easter, the most important feast in the Christian calendar, which celebrates the resurrection of Christ.

    This year, Lent starts on Feb. 14, while Easter falls on April 1.

    “How many of God’s children are mesmerized by momentary pleasures, mistaking them for true happiness!

    “How many men and women live entranced by the dream of wealth, which only makes them slaves to profit and petty interests,” Francis deplored.

    “False prophets can also be ‘charlatans,’ who offer easy and immediate solutions to suffering that soon prove utterly useless.

    “ How many young people are taken in by the panacea of drugs, of disposable relationships, of easy but dishonest gains,” he added.

    Hailing the virtue of charity, the pope said: “More than anything else, what destroys charity is greed for money.”

    He urged believers to turn to “the soothing remedy of prayer, almsgiving and fasting” during Lent.

    Francis, the first pope to adopt the name of a Medieval saint who gave up all his riches to live as a monk, has made a point of rejecting symbols of papal grandeur.

    For example, he uses an ordinary hatchback as an official car, and days after his election in 2013, he said he wanted to lead “a poor church, for the poor.”

  • ‘Catholic Church should offer Nigeria moral compass, says Kukah

    The Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, has urged the Catholic Church to offer Nigeria a moral compass.

    Dr. Kukah, who spoke at the weekend at the 38th Supreme Council Convention of the Knights of St. Mulumba, at St. Leo’s Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos, said Catholics were known for playing prominent roles in all spheres of life.

    He said: “I believe the Catholic Church must urgently take up the challenge of offering our country a moral compass as we face a very uncertain future.

    “I note that your theme for the convention is ‘Family Values, Human Rights and the Challenges of Modernisation in Nigeria.’ I am not sure where to situate theme of Human Rights in the conversation and for the sake of clarity, I have decided to focus on the ‘Catholic Family and the Crisis of Modernity’. In doing so, I am arguing that everything else revolves round the quality of families we have in any society.”

    The cleric said Catholics were expected to give Nigeria and the world at large a good direction.

    He noted that the Catholic Church believed marriage was indissoluble because that was how it was in the beginning when God created the world.

    His words: “Marriage, the Catholic Church teaches, is not something that happens by accident. It is part of God’s divine plan for humanity and this finds fulfilment when two people come together. Therefore, crises, no matter the enormity, should not open the exit door on the grounds of what the world calls irreconcilable differences. For what may seem irreconcilable in the human mind is reconcilable before God.

    “While divorce presupposes human convenience, indissolubility dwells on commitment. This commitment is part of the sacrificial ingredients of marriage, which, like that of Jesus, has redemptive value because it supports, it forgives and it helps us to carry one another’s burden.

    “Key factors that threaten the family today are enormous, but many of them hang around what is called modernity. The challenge to be modern demands that we meet a set of ideals the society has constructed.

    “Perhaps, nowhere are the casualties of modernity to be found more than in the family.”

    The quest for modernity has left in its wake, a huge wreckage of broken homes and families and a morally-flawed society.

    “Today, the statistics on divorce, broken homes and children out of wedlock are on the rise. This generation will come of age with a culture of violence and with no skills. They will grow up in a socially-deviant environment characterised by drugs, gangsterism, illiteracy, teenage pregnancies, domestic abuse, pornography, paedophilia, victims of human trafficking, slavery, etc.

    “We, as a church, must raise an army of well-trained teachers of sound Catholic doctrine among the laity. The ignorance of lay Catholics is a far greater threat to the future of the church than either other faiths or even the secular forces that threaten us today.

    “Catholics must become more consistent, return to the scripture, know the teachings of the church and insist on preaching the word of God.

    “It is the quality of the children we bring up today that will determine our tomorrow. We need to start a national campaign to save the Catholic family and make its values a model for the larger society. This means parents must find time to educate their children on Catholic family values and prepare them for life in the larger society. We must begin this campaign and make Catholic parenting and family values something to be cherished.”

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode hailed the Catholic Church for promoting peace and Christian morality.

    Ambode, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Mrs. Toyin Awoseyi, said he felicitated “with the Catholics on this august occasion.”

    A management expert, Prof. Pat Utomi, said: “Our society is in crisis because modernity has affected our religious and moral values. We should retrace our steps. If things don’t go well with the family, it will affect the society.”

  • Ahiara: A very Catholic situation

    Not many people may know that Catholicism is not merely a state of being a Catholic, or the practices and doctrines of the Roman Catholics. It means much more than that. In fact, it also connotes universality of views and liberal sentiments. May we therefore conjecture that the five-year long imbroglio of the Ahiara Diocese of the Catholic Church in Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria, has become a very Catholic situation?

    Everyone must be conversant with this now infamous. The Catholic faithful in Ahiara Diocese may be said to have chewed up their own hair, as the saying goes in Igbo. They insist they would have their way in the matter of installing a new bishop for their diocese. They insist a home-boy priest be made bishop or no bishop at all.

    Their recalcitrance reminds one of the band of malcontent Jews in the New Testament who bound themselves under an oath that “they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.” They were at once murderous and suicidal in their singular objective. A coalition of clerics and laity in this case may not have the passion of the Roman Jews but they sure have something.

    They have defied all entreaties – traditional rulers, state governors, archbishops and now the Papa himself, the Holy Pontiff. Former Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Peter Okpalaeke in December 2012. However, his ordination had to be done in neighbouring Owerri Diocese. Ahiara Clergy and Laity did not only march around the town in protest clad in black attire, they deposited a coffin at the gate of the cathedral; invoking a fetish twist to their repudiation of Rome.

    However, the new Pope Francis went ahead with the Episcopal ordination and installation of Okpalaeke all the same. But albeit, it was held ex-cathedra, in a manner of speaking, in May 2013 but he has remained in exile, so to speak, since then. The massive Cathedral of Ahiara also remains under locks.

    A meeting was of all stakeholders was called in the Vatican but the rejectionist would not show up. An incensed Pope Francis most regrettably, threw in some harsh words; describing the Ahiara faithful as like the murderous tenants in the Gospel of Matthew who wanted to steal inheritance.

    He then issued ultimatum to all priest of Mbaise origin to personally and individually write apology letter to him. They all did yet trouble brews.

    Now the Clergy may have withdrawn into the shadows while the Laity keeps up the agitation. “What is happening in Ahiara is an affront and it is unheard of in Catholicism… it is an embarrassment to Nigeria,” according to the Catholic Secretariat. What will the Pope do now?

  • Court jails 87-year-old priest for abuse in Australia

    Court jails 87-year-old priest for abuse in Australia

    A Court in  Brisbane sentenced a priest, Francis Brophy, 87, of the Catholic De la Salle Brothers, on Monday, to eight years behind bars for sexually abusing orphans.

    Prosecutors said Brophy sexually abused nine boys at an orphanage decades ago at a facility in the Queensland town of Beaudesert, Australia between 1978 and 1983.

    “Your legacy disgusts me and every right-minded member of society,’’ Brisbane District Court Judge William Everson told Brophy, according to Australian Associated Press.

    The De La Salle Brothers said in a statement that Brophy’s actions “amounted to a profound betrayal of the trust of children.’’

    “These actions have caused great pain and suffering and for that we are truly remorseful,’’ the statement said.

    Judge Everson denounced Brophy as “a cowardly, evil peadophile’’ who presided over a “Gulag right in our midst,’’ leaving some of his victims ravaged by nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder as adults.

    “The combination of your depraved sexual offending and the terrifying violence you meted out makes your conduct particularly heinous,’’ Everson said in the court.

    Seven per cent of all priests between 1950 and 2010 sexually abused children, according to a Royal Commission inquiry into the extent of alleged abuse among Australian Catholic churches system.

    The De La Salle Brothers had one of the highest numbers of alleged perpetrators ministering between 1950 and 2010, 328 claims of sexual abuse, as well as 219 claims at its BoysTown facility in Beaudesert in Queensland.

  • Catholic Church: attack regrettable

    The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, Anambra, has described Sunday’s attack on worshippers at St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Ozubulu by a gunman as regrettable.

    A statement by Rev. Hygi Aghaulor, Director of Communications of the Diocese, said Parish Priest Rev Fr. Jude Onwuaso escaped unhurt.

    He described the act as a sign of loss of what is sacred and condoled with the families of victims of the attack.

    “It is regrettable that our people are more and more losing a sense of what is sacred.

    “What on earth would make people open fire on innocent unarmed worshippers including children and women on a Sunday morning?

    “We condemn this ungodly act in its totality; we pray Almighty God to console the families affected and assure them that our hearts are with them as we pray for the quick recovery of the wounded.

    “For the entire parishioners, we call on them not to be discouraged in their usual practice of faith.

    “It is when the forces of darkness attempt to overshadow goodness that the light of God shines even brighter than ever just as it happened on Easter Sunday.

    “Evil may make attempts but God and goodness will always triumph; we call on the good people to continue to pray for the deceased worshippers and their families,” Aghaulor stated.

  • Anambra Church attack unspeakable sacrilege, says Buhari

    Anambra Church attack unspeakable sacrilege, says Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the Ozubulu Church attack in Anambra State by a yet to be identified gunmen, describing the incident as “an appalling crime against humanity and unspeakable sacrilege.”

    The President expressed his grief in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Sunday.

    President Buhari said that “there was no justification whatsoever to target Church worshippers and kill them in cold blood.’’

    He said this kind of atrocity “plumbs the depth of depravity and extreme cruelty of the kind that words cannot adequately express.’’

    According to the President, there is no religion that does not lay constant emphasis on the sanctity of life, and that “all Nigerians must rise up and speak with one voice against these remorseless evil men.’’

    The President expressed his deepest sympathy with the families of the victims, the Church leadership and the government of Anambra state.

    He reassured all Nigerians of his administration’s firm and uncompromising commitment to protect their lives and properties at all times.

    The  police in Anambra on Sunday confirmed that a gunman killed 11 worshippers and injured 18 others in an early morning attack on St. Philip Catholic Church, Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Local Government Area.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Garba Umar, told newsmen that the remains of the dead had been deposited at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi.

    He said the police had launched a manhunt on those behind the act and gave an assurance that everybody behind the act would be brought to justice.

    Umar described any insinuation that the attack was carried out by Boko Haram elements as false and urged the people to go about their normal businesses.
    He said the police were on top of the situation.’’(NAN)

  • Anambra church shooting regrettable- Catholic Diocese

    Anambra church shooting regrettable- Catholic Diocese

    The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, Anambra, has described Sunday’s attack on worshippers at St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Ozubulu, by a gunman as regrettable.

    The church, in a statement signed by Rev. Hygi Aghaulor, Director of Communications of the Diocese, and available to newsmen, said that the Parish Priest, Rev Fr. Jude Onwuaso escaped unhurt.

    He described the act as a sign of loss of what is sacred and consoled the families of victims of the attack.

    “It is regrettable that our people are more and more loosing a sense of what is sacred.

    “What on earth would make people open fire on innocent unarmed worshippers including children and women on a Sunday morning?

    “We condemn this ungodly act in its totality; we pray Almighty God to console the families affected and assure them that our hearts are with them as we pray for the quick recovery of the wounded.

    “For the entire parishioners, we call on them not to be discouraged in their usual practice of faith.

    “It is when the forces of darkness attempt to overshadow goodness that the light of God shines even brighter than ever just as it happened on Easter Sunday.

    “Evil may make attempts but God and goodness will always triumph; we call on the good people to continue to pray for the deceased worshippers and their families,” Aghaulor stated.

    Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in the state Mr Garba Umar, has said that the command would leave no turn unturned to bring the attackers to justice.

    Umar, who spoke at a news conference in Awka on Sunday, gave the updated figures of casualties as 11 dead and 18 injured.

    He ruled out the possibility of a terror attack, and spoke about an isolated feud between individuals in the community.

    He said that the command had invited some suspects who would be useful to the investigation.

    The CP advised residents to go about their lawful businesses, assuring them that churches and public places were safe.

    “At about 6.30 a.m. today, Aug. 6, I got a distress call that gunmen had invaded and shot at worshippers at St. Philips Catholic Church, Umuezekwe, Ofufe, Amakwa Village in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Located Government Area.

    “As a result I, the Commissioner of Police, led my operatives immediately to the scene to rescue worshippers.

    “The command, under my watch, will leave no stone unturned in locating and prosecuting those behind the massacre of innocent worshippers.

    “The intelligence report and preliminary investigation showed that the incident was as a result of a feud between two individuals from the same community living outside Nigeria.

    “One of the individuals built the church where the shooting occurred; it is definitely not a terrorist attack in the mould of Boko Haram or Fulani herdsmen attack.

    “The command will brief the public after investigation is concluded; I commiserate with all those who lost their loved ones in this unfortunate incident.

    “I also encourage `ndi’ Anambra to be vigilant and to promptly report suspicious movements or strange observation of persons and actions in their localities to the security agencies.’’ Umar said.