Vol 14 No 10b - Nnewi Catholic Diocese, Anambra

Transcription

A publication of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi www.nnewidiocese.org/outlook.htm
ISSN 2141-0178
VOL. 14 NO. 10 SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015
A Call To Conversion
E
2015 Easter Message of Bishop Hilary Odili Okeke
Rejoice! He is Risen! Allelua!
violence are increasingly the
order of the day. The viral effects are
there for everybody to see - a country
blessed with human and material
resources but that cannot provide
and maintain basic amenities for the
aster comes around as a
celebration of victory of our
Lord Jesus Christ over the
forces of evil that led to his
crucifixion and death. Like the corn,
Jesus Christ died in order to bear
much fruit, the fruit of eternal
salvation for those who would
believe in Him. His death and
resurrection are great lessons for us:
death is not the end of everything but
a transition that will lead to either
eternal victory or to eternal shame.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a
guarantee to everybody who is
committed to a life of faith and virtue
to achieve eternal victory in the face
of the challenges of evil that
surround him or her.
Nigeria like the Israel of old
is faced with the stark reality of evil.
God complained about Israel:
"Whenever I would heal Israel, I am
confronted by the guilt of Ephraim
and the evil-doings of Samaria; for
deceit is their principle of behaviour"
(Hosea 7:1). We are praying for
Nigeria in distress but the evils in our
the people. Why? Those
who have access to the material
resources of this country exploit
them for their own interest!
Contd on pg 9
Papal Honours, Investiture
& Thanksgiving Mass
On Saturday May 16th 2015, Catholic Diocese of Nnewi will be
celebrating with four of our members that were honoured by Pope
Francis as Chaplains of His Holiness (Monsignori) and twenty-four
others given different Papal Honours.
On account of this, a special brochure and a special edition of
The Christian Outlook Newspaper (a souvenir for ever) are being
prepared for this epoch-making ceremony.
Contd on page 19
The Management & Staff of The Christian
Outlook Newspaper wish our numerous
customers a blessed and memorable
Easter celebration
Faces of Victory
Princess Stella Oduah
Anambra North Senatorial Zone (PDP)
Sen. Andy Emmanuel Uba
Anambra South Senatorial Zone (PDP)
Hon. Uche Ekwunife (IYOM)
Anambra Central Senatorial Zone (PDP)
Gen. M. Okechukwu Buhari
President-Elect (APC)
T
he People's Democratic Party, PDP, in Anambra
State has won the three senatorial positions as
well as nine out of the eleven
House of
Representatives slots in the State.
In Anambra Central Senatorial Zone, a member
of the House of Representatives representing
Anaocha/Njikoka /Dunukofia, Hon. Uche Ekwunife of
the PDP defeated the incumbent senator representing
the zone, HE Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige of the APC to win
the senatorial seat for the zone. Anambra Central
comprises of Idemili North, Idemili South, Awka North,
Awka South, Anocha, Njikoka and Dunukofia.
The former Minister of Aviation, Princess
Hon. Barr. Gabriel Onyenwife
Ayamelum/Oyi Fed. Constituency (APGA)
district comprising of Anambra East, Anambra
West, Oyi, Ayamelum, Ogbaru, Onitsha North
and Onitsha South Local Government Areas.
The incumbent senator for Anambra
South, HE, Sen. Andy Uba of the PDP retained
Hon. Chris Emeka Azubogu
Nnewi North/Nnewi South/ Ekwusigo
Fed. Constituency ( PDP)
position after defeating his closest rival,
Chief Ernest Ndukwe of APGA. In the said
election, PDP scored 109,060 votes while
APGA scored 73,416 votes. Anambra
South Senatorial Zone comprise of Ihiala,
Hon. Emeka Anohu
Ihiala Fed. Constituency ( PDP)
Aguata, Orumba North, Orumba South,
Nnewi North, Nnewi South and
Ekwusigo LGAs.
Contd on Pg 19
Saturday April 18, 2015
EDITORIAL
THE CHRISTIAN OUTLOOK 2
Presidential Polls: Democracy is Evolving
A
s voting in Nigeria's k e e n l y c o n t e s t e d
2015 Presidential Presidential election, since
a n d N a t i o n a l the return of Democracy in
A s s e m b l y e l e c t i o n s Nigeria in 1999.
concluded and results
It is our belief that the
c o l l a t e d , N i g e r i a n s President-elect will sit up,
deserve commendation realizing that it is no longer
for coming out en mass to business as usual-that
exercise their franchise. opposition is now very
We also wish to urge the strong in Nigeria, and it is a
c i t i z e n s t o r e m a i n welcome development.
steadfast in their
If Nigerian elections
c o m m i t m e n t t o will continue this way, the
p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n citizens can now have hope
governance.
of better governance, as
We wish to express whoever that is in power at
satisfaction with the level any level of government
of political awareness in will realize that opposition
the country; indeed, the is on standby to wrestle
country's democracy is power from him, if he fails.
evolving. We wish to
On the country's war
believe that the winner of against corruption, it is
this Presidential election our view that Nigeria's
will know that it is not anti-corruption agencies
cheap and will
take are not living up to their
OURnot
MISSION
Nigerians for granted any responsibilities, and we
longer. This is the most wish to challenge those in
OUR MISSION
“To provide our readers with high quality, trustworthy news that is contemporary,
engaged with the world and faithful to what the Church teaches so as to strengthen the
faith of Christians & deepen their commitment to God in line with objective journalistic
ethics.”
In service of the truth
The Christian
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF NNEWI
PUBLISHER
DIRECTOR
-
Bishop H.P.O. Okeke
Rev Fr. Hygi Aghaulor, Ph.D.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF -
Rev Fr Anthony Ibegbunam
EDITOR
-
Solomon Mokwugwo
NEWS EDITOR 1
-
Pat Okonkwo
NEWS EDITOR 2
-
Ifechukwu Ifedigbo
REPORTER
-
Eric Ume-Ezeoke
GRAPHICS
-
Uche Okoye, Chika Odunukwe, Uju
Ogbuewu, Patricia Amadi
-
Obinna Okeke
PROOF-READERS -
Umeh Obi M.
BOOK-KEEPING-ACCT. REC -
Anadi Ngozi C.
ADVERT
-
Oliver-Ross Udeafor, Ngozi Asonibe
CIRCULATION
-
Frank Ohanyere
PRODUCTION
authority to take the
country's anti-graft war
more seriously, in order
to secure the future of our
country. We equally wish
to re-echo the need for the
strengthening of the legal
framework against
corruption, in order to
close the loopholes in the
war.
Part of the things
requiring immediate
attention is the timely
passage of key legislations
being considered by the
present National
Assembly, including the
Proceeds of Crime and
Mutual Assistance in
Criminal matters bills.
Change of Name
I formerly known and addressed as Uzochukwu
Ogochukwu Assumpta now wish to be known
and addressed as Osakwe Ogochukwu
Assumpta . All former documents remain valid.
General public should please take note.
The Holy Fathers
Intentions For
The Month Of
April, 2015
Universal: Creation
That people may learn to respect
creation and care for it as a gift of God.
Evangelization: Persecuted Christians
That persecuted Christians may feel the
consoling presence of the Risen Lord
and the solidarity of all the Church.
Bishop’s Prayer Intentions
For month of April, 2015
GENERAL: That all Christians and people of
good will may recognize and work for
effective safeguarding and elimination of
abuse of marriage and family in fidelity to
Christ and His Kingdom
* For Consecrated
Men & Women
PUBLIC SCHEDULE OF BISHOP HILARY
ODILI OKEKE April, 2015
Sun 5- Easter Sunday
Sun 5- 10 t h Anniversary Celebration of the
Establishment of St. Felix's Parish, Nnewi.
Mon 6- 50th Wedding Anniversary of Chief Luke
Osita Onyejianya and Lady Francisca
Ezinwanne Onyejianya
Tue 7- Vocation Rally of Utuh Vocation
Association
Tue 7- Merit Award of CWO Our Lady Gate of
Heaven parish, Ezinifite
Fri 10- Blessing of Chapel of Eucharistic Adoration
at St. Martin de Porres Parish, Nnewi.
Sat 11- State Elections
12 April- Divine Mercy Sunday- Collection for Youth
Apostolate
Mon. 13– Canonical Examinations for
Seminarians
Copyright © 2015, The Christian Outlook Inc. The Christian Outlook is
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CHURCH
LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD
Inculturation, Incarnation or Indigenisation of the Gospel
T
he danger that is
always lurking
around is the
enculturation of faith and
presenting the enculturated
faith as the Faith. This is the
crux of the problem of
missionary work:
transporting the faith with
the clothing of a particular
Most Rev. Hilary Paul Odili Okeke culture to another cultural
area under the guise that
that was the faith. Peter Schineller has pointed out this flaw in
evangelisation: “The fact is that lack of adequate inculturation
in previous missionary efforts has often resulted in the need to
focus on inculturation. In Nigeria today, for example, one is
not usually sharing the gospel for the first time with those who
have never heard of Jesus Christ. Rather, one encounters a
western European form or model of Christianity that is
widespread and growing, but a form that is not indigenous to
Nigeria. In other words, one has to in some ways dewesternize Christianity, strip it down to the essentials, in order
to inculturate gospel values into Nigeria” (A Handbook on
Inculturation, Paulist Press, New York, p. 11). The words of
Peter Schineller call for the process of incarnation. There
must be kenosis (emptying) of the present form of Christianity
imported with the garb of Western European Christianity for
the gospel to take flesh in Africa, in Nigeria, in Igboland.
Inculturation brings out that process which St. Paul gave us in
Jesus Christ, “Who, being in the form of God, ... emptied
himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings
are;” (Philippians 2:6-7).
Emptying in order to be Filled
The words of Peter Sarpong, later Archbishop of Kumasi,
Ghana can reinforce the need for this emptying of the
contemporary Western Christianity in order for the Catholic
Church in Nigeria to have a Nigerian Christianity, indeed, an
Igbo Christianity: “Alas, he [the African] searches in vain for
his heart's desire in the Catholic Church. The Christian
Church in its wake abolishes his cherished institutions
through which he was himself. In fact, the drums and African
dances were completely proscribed as unbecoming of a
Christian. Puberty and initiation ceremonies, the mainstay of
juvenile morality, communal festivity, and social solidarity,
were condemned by 'Christianity' as repulsive, repugnant,
abhorrent, ridiculous, etc. We are now able to lament that its
inception, 'Christianity' did not realize that the African ground
had long been carefully prepared by God for the reception of
the Christian seed; and that that seed had in the course of the
centuries inevitably put on the cultural garments of different
civilizations, Jewish, Greek, Roman, etc” (See Peter
Schineller, A Handbook on Inculturation, pp. 11-12).
Faith and Expressions of Faith
Avery Dulles has a similar view about the missionary strategy
that tended to identify faith with the cultural expressions of
faith. According to him, “in earlier centuries, missionaries
tended to carry their own cultures with them. They did not
distinguish clearly between the faith and its cultural
expressions. Converts were trained to express their newfound
faith in the language and style of the missionaries, who came
for the most part from Western Europe or, more recently, from
North America. As a result, Christians in North and South
America, Asia, and Africa tended to be highly Europeanized or
at least Westernized, and in many cases they remained small
foreign enclaves estranged from the culture of their nation”
(The New World of Faith, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing
Division, Our Sunday Visitor Inc, Huntington, Indiana 46750,
p. 114). The assessment is true in that there was a marriage
between Western civilization and cultures on the one hand and
Christianity on the other hand giving birth to Western
Christianity. The danger was that this Western Christianity
was spread as the Christianity. The converts to this
Christianity were uprooted from their culture and given
Christianity in the colonial garb.
Christianity Challenged and Challenges all Cultures
While agreeing with the fact that Christianity has put on
cultural garbs of various places, we must also state that
Christianity challenged all those cultures, the Jewish, Roman,
Irish and other European cultures to achieve what Christianity
is. In the Council of Jerusalem, Christianity challenged the
Jewish culture and came out with what could be considered as
the essentials. In his missionary journeys, Paul continued to
challenge various cultures which he encountered. At Athens,
he was faced with religiosity that was very remarkable. In his
speech before the council of Areopagus, he stated: “Men of
Athens, I have seen for myself how extremely scrupulous you
are in all religious matters, because, as I strolled round looking
at your sacred monuments, I noticed among other things an
altar inscribed: To An Unknown God. In fact, the unknown
God you revere is the one I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:22-23).
He preached the one true God, the God who raised Jesus
Christ from the dead! The Greek soil, like every soil, had been
carefully prepared for the reception of the seed of the Gospel.
But every soil has the limitations of containing some things
that may not allow the seed of the Gospel to germinate and
grow. Generally, this is polytheism that inspired most
religions and cultures including past European cultures:
Greek, Roman, Irish, German etc. At Iconium, Paul had to
stop the people from worshipping him and Barnabas as gods
Hermes and Zeus and used the opportunity to condemn the
worship of empty idols and invite the people to follow the
living God who made sky and earth and the sea and all that
these hold (see Acts 14:11-18). In Ephesus, Paul had to
confront the silversmiths who made a living from making
silver images of the goddess Diana (Acts 19:23-40).
The Need of Inculturation of the Gospel
Inculturation is necessary. Inculturation understood as the
incarnation of the Gospel in autonomous cultures and at the
same time the introduction of these cultures into the life of the
Church signifies “an intimate transformation of the authentic
cultural values by their integration into Christianity and the
implantation of Christianity into different human cultures”
(St. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, Redemptoris missio, no.
52). By inculturation, the Church makes the Gospel incarnate
in different cultures, and at the same time introduces peoples,
together with their cultures, into her own communities (see
Redemptoris missio, no. 52). People's culture is like the soil in
which the seed of the Gospel is sown. The soil is necessary for
the seed to germinate and grow. It is important to know the
type of soil in which the seed is to be sown. The parable of the
Inculturation is necessary. Inculturation
understood as the incarnation of the Gospel
in autonomous cultures and at the same time
the introduction of these cultures into the life
of the Church signifies “an intimate
transformation of the authentic cultural
values by their integration into Christianity
and the implantation of Christianity into
different human cultures” (St. John Paul II,
Encyclical Letter, Redemptoris missio, no.
52). By inculturation, the Church makes the
Gospel incarnate in different cultures, and at
the same time introduces peoples, together
with their cultures, into her own
communities
seed shows the importance of the texture of the soil. According
to Jesus Christ, the sower went out to sow seeds; some fell by
the roadside and were trampled; some fell on patches of soil on
rocky ground and shot up but shrivelled because of lack of
depth of the soil; some fell among thorns and were choked by
the thorns; while some fell on good soil and grew and bore
fruit, some a hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty (see
Matthew 13:4-9; 36-43).
Incarnation of the Word of God: The Word became
Culture!
It is important to ensure that the word of God is inserted into
the culture. Inculturation in this case means that the word of
God takes flesh in a particular culture, taking in the elements
of culture that are compatible with the gospel and inserting
faith in that culture. Pope St. John Paul II brings out the close
connection between the mystery of Christ and inculturation:
“Given the close and organic relationship that exists between
Jesus Christ and the Word that the Church proclaims, the
inculturation of the revealed message cannot but follow the
'logic' proper to the Mystery of the Redemption. Indeed, the
Incarnation of the Word is not an isolated moment but tends
towards Jesus' 'Hour' and the Paschal Mystery: 'Unless a grain
of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it
dies, it bears much fruit' (Jn 12:24). Jesus says: 'And I, when I
am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself' (Jn
12:32). This emptying of self, this kenosis necessary for
exaltation, which is the way of Christ and of each of his
disciples (cf. Phil 2:6-9), sheds light on the encounter of
cultures with Christ and his Gospel”(Ecclesia in Africa, no. 61).
Integral Inculturation
Inculturation touches every aspect of the faith and Christian
life. It is not a haphazard and selective affair. Generally, most
people are inclined to emphasize the liturgy as the theatre of
inculturation. St. John Paul II quoting the Fathers of the First
Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops brings out
the universal and integral nature of inculturation:
“Inculturation is a movement towards full evangelization. It
seeks to dispose people to receive Jesus Christ in an integral
manner. It touches them on the personal, cultural, economic
and political levels so that they can live a holy life in total union
with God the Father, through the action of the Holy Spirit".
Thanking God for the fruits which the efforts at inculturation
have already brought forth in the life of the Churches of the
Continent, notably in the ancient Eastern Churches of Africa,
the Synod recommended "to the Bishops and to the Episcopal
Conferences to take note that inculturation includes the whole
life of the Church and the whole process of evangelization. It
includes theology, liturgy, the Church's life and structures. All
this underlines the need for research in the field of African
cultures in all their complexity” (Ecclesia in Africa, no. 62).
Inculturated Christianity
Every aspect of the belief and life of the Church is to be
inculturated to have an inculturated Christianity, a
Christianity that is at the same time universal and particular.
The words of Archbishop Peter K. Sarpong are apposite and
appropriate: “If the Gospel message of love, compassion,
justice, truth, has not permeated the society, then there is no
inculturation yet. Inculturation, therefore, is not a question
of dancing and singing and clapping of hands; it is not a matter
of allowing polygamy or divorce. It embraces the totality of
the Christian life; it touches the faith, morality and liturgy, of
course. It is a movement towards full evangelisation; it seeks
to dispose people to receive Jesus in an integral manner; it
should touch us on the personal, cultural, economic, political
levels so that we can live a whole life in total union with God
under the action of the Holy Spirit” (Dear Nana, p. 49). This
statement challenges the tendency to see inculturation merely
as wearing local dress, clapping of hands, singing local songs,
dancing and beating local instruments. While these are not to
be discarded, inculturation of the Christian message must go
deeper into the mentality and ways of thought, attitude and
action of the people.
Inculturation in Spirit and Truth
While every aspect of the Gospel is to be inserted into the
culture to have inculturated Christianity, care must be taken
to see that every aspect of the culture is involved in
inculturation. This means that every aspect of the culture
such as the worldview, attitude, religion, language, music and
dancing, art, fashion and dressing, drama and social
networks, is to be open to the gospel. The gospel has to
penetrate and settle in them in so far as they are good and
open to the Way of the Lord, the Way of eternal salvation. An
inculturated Christianity will be not only internally
inculturated but will definitely wear the garb of the culture.
That means that Igbo Christianity will not only have drums
and gongs but will have families that bear the mark of the
Gospel, religion that has Christ as the supreme centre, the
Way that has Igbo characteristics. This is not easy to achieve.
It demands patient discernment and unshaken commitment
to both the Gospel and to the culture for the Christian message
to be inserted integrally into a culture without betraying in
any way the essential truth and substance of the Christian
message. That takes us to the criteria of inculturation.
Fidelity to the Gospel and Apostolic Tradition
The criteria for authentic inculturation ensure that
inculturated Christianity is still genuine. St. John Paul II
reminds the Church in Africa about these criteria: .
“Inculturation is a difficult and delicate task, since it raises the
question of the Church's fidelity to the Gospel and the
Apostolic Tradition amidst the constant evolution of cultures.
Rightly therefore the Synod Fathers observed: 'Considering
the rapid changes in the cultural, social, economic and
political domains, our local Churches must be involved in the
process of inculturation in an ongoing manner, respecting the
two following criteria: compatibility with the Christian
message and communion with the universal Church ... In all
cases, care must be taken to avoid syncretism" (Ecclesia in
Africa, no. 62). Inculturation of the Gospel requires the true
integration in the life of faith of the people, of the permanent
values of a culture, rather than their transient expressions
(See Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of
the Sacraments, The Roman Liturgy and Inculturation, no. 5).
The permanent and authentic values of the cultures must be
compatible with the Gospel. The Gospel must be the point of
reference. While the Gospel is universal and immutable,
human cultures are particular and dynamic. Any human
culture can and must be discerned in the light of the
unchanging truth and values of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ and not the values of an inculturated Gospel, that is, the
Gospel wearing the garb of any particular culture, however,
developed or attractive that culture is. There should be no
imposition of any culture, however advanced or developed.
Most Rev. Hilary Paul Odili Okeke
Bishop of Nnewi
NEWS
FRSC Special Marshals Donates
Safety Items in Anambra
T
he Federal Road Safety
Corps (FRSC) Special
Marshals has donated
safety items worth N500, 000
to FRSC Sector Command
and commercial motorcycle
riders in Anambra in-order to
ensure safety of road users.
The items donated
included: fire extinguishers,
safety crash helmets and
thousands of fliers and
leaflets containing graphic
road safety enlightenment
messages.
Receiving the items
in Awka, Anambra FRSC
Sector Commander, Mr
Sunday Ajayi, said that the
corps was very grateful for the
items.
“When someone is
working and sees someone
who partners or encourages
him or her; there is challenge
to do more,'' Ajayi said.
He said that the
issue of road safety was
something that involves all
and “it is a shared
responsibility''; where there
was need for co-operation
with all facet of the society.
“The special
marshals are the volunteer
arm of the FRSC, who render
selfless service to the nation
and humanity; even as their
donation today expresses
their desire to serve all. The
donated fliers and leaflets will
enable us to achieve our
target of reaching everybody
living in Anambra with road
safety enlightenment
messages; in that if you
cannot hear us directing
talking about safety on the
road, you can read or go
through the graphic in these
fliers which would make
meaning to you,'' he said.
Responding, the
State Secretary of Motorcycle
Transport Union of Nigeria
(MTUN), Mr Eugene
Chukwumaeze, thanked the
special marshals for the
safety crash helmets donated
to indigent members of their
union.
Chukwumaeze
noted that with the donation
and other benevolent act by
FRSC; there was a need for
the union to come close and
partner with the corps to
ensure safety on the roads.
Earlier, the
Anambra Coordinator of
Special Marshals and
Partnership, Mr Ben Osaka,
said that the donation was
part of the special marshals'
quarterly package meant to
create awareness on road
safety and ensure safety of
road users.
Osaka said that the
special marshals had keyed
into the FRSC Corps Marshal,
Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, vision
and target to reduce Road
Traffic Crashes (RTC) by 20
G
T
– Peter Obi
he former Governor
of Anambra State and
Deputy DirectorGeneral (South Nigeria) of
the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) presidential
campaign organization,
Chief (Sir) Peter Obi, has
assured Nigerians that there
Obiano on the Threshold of Greatness
By Ejike Anyaduba
P
rofessor Okoro Ijeoma
is a great guy. He
taught History at the
University of Nige ria
with infectious passion. His
off the cuff, but brilliant
lectures, held many students,
including laggards awestruck. Nobody skived a session with the Prof. None ever
left his lectures, regretting
attendance. For many of us,
he was as luminous a teacher
as he was a trusted mentor.
Recently, I ran into
him at a function at Nike
Lake Resort, Enugu. While
fiddling with my papers for
documentations – in time –
to avoid being turned out of
doors by organizers of the
event, I saw the erudite
Professor ensconced on a
chair in the foyer. He was
poring over a paper when I
called his attention. I made
brief introduction of myself
whereupon he enquired after
my state and her governor,
Chief Willie Obiano. As I
made to speak, he motioned
me to silence, suggesting he
was already in the loop about
the developments in my
s
t
a
t
e
.
With the concision
of a historian, he regaled me
with the governor's
achievements. He expressed
joy that Obiano has joined
the league of performing
governors in Nigeria and the
better of the two performing
governors in the South east. I
wanted to find out who the
other governor is. Sullivan
Chime, Prof said matter-of –
factly. He said the young man
has done well for himself and
the people of Enugu State.
As our discussion
tailed off, he wanted to find
“Anambra State is Growing
By 14 Percent in GDP”
overnor Willie
O b i a n o h a s
announced a
growth in the states GDP by
14percent.
Obiano noted that the GDP
would soon grow higher
with the influx of
investments and revolution
in various sectors.
The Governor
explained that proactive
measures had been put in
place to boost power supply
in the state and provide
adequate electricity to drive
the industrial hubs.
per cent and fatality rate by
30 per cent this year.
The highlights of the
occasion were the
presentation of safety crash
helmets to indigent
commercial motorcycle
riders as well as a group
photograph of members of
MTUN, FRSC special
marshals and top regular
marshals in Anambra.
FG Will Unbundle Power
in the Next Four Years
He said the
present effort to provide
mass employment for
youths was geared towards
a structured elimination of
crime and criminality.
Governor Obiano
recalled that despite
various distractions, his
government remained
focused on the task of
moving the state forward
and commended members
of the state Executive
Council and the state
workforce for their
c o n t r i b u t i o n s .
Gov Obiano
out why, upon Obiano's
achievements, he is still
under attack on the social
media? I told him the
attacks are the handiwork of
idlers; men and women who
are not bred to any known
trade. That I have a hunch
some of them might have
been crossed with the
sanitization exercise carried
out by the new government.
In consequence, they now
amuse themselves writing
the disparaging lines
against the government.
The impetus of writing, I
told him, is stoked by a
number of dis gruntled
politicians from the state.
He agreed no less with my
views and asked me to tell
the governor – if I could –
not to be distracted from his
g o o d
w o r k .
Pleased, I scurried
to the conference hall to
attend to the business of the
day. I was happy that,
beyond the din of confusion
from the social me dia,
Obiano government is regarded highly within and
outside the state. More than
that, I was pleased I
convinced my teacher to
disregard the stories as
coming from distorted
m
i
n
d
s
.
The fact of
O b i ano ' s d e ve l o p me nt
strides is not in doubt. What
is strange, maybe, is why,
amidst the progressive
developments, some people
are blinded by hate to sully
the image of the State. I find
it a bit odd that their vision
is so blurred they can nei-
ther glimpse nor feel the palpable transformation going
on in the state. Perhaps,
their conscience is already
seared otherwise no sane
mind can spew as much lies
against a government that
has done so much within so
short a time. What Obiano
has done, using the four
pillar development thrusts
and their enablers, is
remarkable. He achieved in
one year what others took
twice as much to attempt.
His effort can be described
as su perlative with
confirmatory evidence in
t h e
b a r g a i n .
Two things stand
Obiano's government out as
remark able. One is
improved security and
welfare. Two is infrastructural development and
investment. Both, in the
context of time and speed,
were never bettered in the
history of the state. Before
his government was
enthroned, Anambra did
not spot a particularly wonderful image. It copped – especially Onitsha – the
picture of unsafe place,
blazoning like armorial
bearings brokenness and
decay. Even her high performance rating in the area
of education and road
network could not alter the
perception. But few months
into his gov ernment,
Obiano has brought order
back to the state. He
reordered the security
machinery, making it both
responsive and proactive.
would be biggest
transformation in
the power sector in
the next four years
of President
G o o d l u c k
J o n a t h a n ' s
administration
during which
electricity would be
unbundled.
Mr Peter
Obi stated this
while unveiling the
manifestoes and
programmes of
P r e s i d e n t
Jonathan to
Odenigbo FM,
saying the biggest
decision of
President Jonathan to
unbundle power would
ensure that what happened
in telecommunication
industry in the country, will
also happen in power
sector.
While expressing
optimism on the
workability of the planned
decision, the former
governor noted that reliable
power supply through the
unbundling of power sector
would not only create job
opportunities but will also
facilitate the engine of
economic growth to enable
micro, small and medium
enterprises to grow.
On financing, he
said, the Development Bank
which was launched three
days ago came on live
stream with over 300
billion and would lend longterm money for five to ten
years at a competitive rate.
On exchange rate
between naira and dollar,
the former chairman of
Fidelity Bank, said
Chief Peter Obi
exchange rate is not stable but
is determined by a lot of
factors. “We face naira
depreciation today because
75% of our income comes
from a singular item - oil. That
could happen to me and you.
If your only source of income
is the money they pay you in
Odenigbo FM and tomorrow,
that is reduced to over 50%, it
will affect your entire budget
in the house including the
food you eat; and that is what
we are going through now.
“Oil has moved from
115 naira per barrel to 55
which is our only source of
income in the foreign
exchange leading to
depreciation of naira by 25%.
Compare to other countries
that depend on oil like Russia,
Russia has faced 70%
depreciation. In Venezuela,
people cue up to buy essential
commodity with food prices
rising to 300 percent while
our own, food prices have
remained stable.
Tourism: Gov. Obiano to Spend
N250 million on Ogbunike Cave
I
n what is seen as a
practical move to
develop tourism
sector, create jobs and
attract huge revenue from
local and foreign tourists,
the governor of Anambra
State, Chief Willie Obiano
h a s
s i g n e d
a
Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU)
with Africa Project
Finance and Development
Limited for the
development of Ogbunike
Cave into a world-class
“Theme Park and Resort” at
the cost of N250 million.
U n d e r t h e
arrangement okayed at the
governor's Lodge,
Amawbia, the company will
design, develop, finance,
construct and operate the
state-of-the-art Park and
Resort.
CathCom Cares
Congratulations
to
Chief Ide & Mrs Osita Onyejianya
on their 50th Wedding Anniversary
DATE: Easter Monday, 6th April, 2015
VENUE: St. Peter Claver’s Catholic Church, Otolo Nnewi
TIME: 11.00am prompt
Around the Diocese
BISHOP OKEKE CELEBRATES PALM SUNDAY
Bishop Okeke Visits St Joseph's Parish,
AT OUR LADY OF ASSUMPTION CATHEDRAL, NNEWI
Ihiala, Confirms 130 Candidates
By Ngozi Asonibe
By Ngozi Asonibe
I
Bishop Okeke in a procession during Palm Sunday Celebration at Our Lady of Assumption Cathedral, Okwuani Nnewi
H
is Lordship, Most Rev. Dr.
Hilary Okeke, celebrated
2015 Palm Sunday of the
passion of the Lord Jesus Christ at
Our Lady of Assumption Cathedral,
Nnewi on March 29, 2015.
The ceremony started
with blessing of palms and
procession led by the Bishop
priests, religious and the Catholic
lay faithful.
In his opening remark, before the
blessing of Palms, Bishop Okeke
disclosed that we are called during
the
Holy week to participate
actively with Jesus Christ in His
suffering and death.
He noted that spreading
of clothes and palms for Jesus
showed that Christians should
always allow God to use their hearts,
minds and soul in doing Gods will.
“God owns everybody including
their wealth and talents. Christians
should always allow God to use
their hearts, bodies and souls for the
glory of God. All we do, should be to
the glory of God.”
He said that Our Lord's
triumphant entry into Jerusalem
marks the actual beginning of his
triumph over sin and death and the
climax of the triumph is His death
on the cross and resurrection on the
third day.
“Jesus knew that He will
die for the sins of man and accepted
the death on the cross. He expects us
to accept our challenges in life and
look unto him for courage and
strenghth to bear them.God knows
all the joys and sorrows we go
through in this life.”
The Pontifical Mass was
celebrated by Bishop Okeke and
concelebrated by Cathedral
Administrator, Very Fr. Maurice
Okeke.
In his homily, Bishop
Okeke emphasized that the story on
the passion of Jesus Christ teaches
Christians the value of obedience.
He disclosed that the
Lenten season is the most important
season in the life of Christians.
He urged all to follow
Christ in all their challenges
because God never abandoned
Jesus Christ in his sufferings
bearing in mind always that God
never abandon any one.
Ihiala Region Holds Lenten
Assembly and Cathedriaticuum
By Ngozi Asonibe
T
he Lenten Assembly and
Cathedriaticum of Ihiala
Region of the Catholic
Diocese of Nnewi took place on
Saturday, March 21 at St Martin
of Tours Parish, Ihiala.
The occasion which
was witnessed by a large number
of the Catholic faithful across the
thirty six parishes in the region
was presided over by the
Catholic Bishop of Nnewi
Diocese, His Lordship, Most
Rev. Dr. Hilary Odili Okeke.
After the Lenten
Assembly, Bishop Okeke
presided over the Eucharistic
celebration. In his sermon
entitled: “Faith beyond Level 1”,
Bishop Okeke enjoined on
Christians to live beyond the
rudimentary stage of
Christianity by tailoring their
lives in line with the gospel
message.
The prelate advocated
for practical Christianity and
urged the faithful to desist from
merely paying lip service to their
faith in Christ, and to
demonstrate such in their daily
lives and vocations.
The Bishop further
stated that faith grows with
practice and is the only weapon
needed to conquer fear.
“With Faith, we can be able to
conquer paganism in our
communities. Our faith will
grow beyond Level 1 by seeking
to do the will of God”, he stated.
In a welcome address
the Episcopal Vicar of the region,
Very Rev. Fr. Patrick
Ezefunamba thanked Bishop
Okeke for his untiring efforts in
directing the affairs of the
diocese and prayed that God will
continue to grant him wisdom to
serve the flock entrusted to him.
He said that the region
is faced with many faith related
issues, some of which include
poor attendance to Sunday
Evening Instructions,
disobedience to church
teachings and regulations in
respect of burial rites, marriage
of Catholics with non Catholics,
ill treatment of women and
widows and evil activities of the
masquerade cult among others.
Earlier, in his Lenten
Assembly address, Bishop
Okeke admonished Christians to
live according to the will of God
and not in accordance with the
world.
He encouraged Catholic faithful
to always read the scriptures and
Church documents such as
Vatican II Document, Papal
Documents and Bishop's
Pastoral Letters in order to build
their faith.
He spoke extensively
on the principle of Inculturation,
and noted that it is important for
Christians to practice their
native Igbo culture in the light of
the Gospel of Christ by
eschewing anything that is
related to idolatry from their
daily and community lives.
The prelate noted that
the injustices being meted out to
women and widows could be
curtailed if only people will
begin to imbibe the tenets of
Christianity which will liberate
the world from negative and
destructive activities.
According to him, “we
should integrate our good
cultural values into our
Christian lives. Evangelisation
of culture requires reformation
and transformation of negative
pagan values with Christian
values.
All the 36 parishes in
the region as well as Religious
Congregations, Statutory and
Pious Societies among others
presented their Cathedriaticum
gifts to the bishop.
During the occasion,
Hon. Emeka Anohu presented 4
Buses to the bishop meant for
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital
Ihiala, Ihiala Deanery, Okija
Deneary and Orsumoghu
Deanery.
t was all joy as the Parish
Priest, Rev. Fr. Godfrey
Okoli, the Parish Council
and the entire parishioners of
St Joseph's Parish, Ihiala came
out en masse to welcome as His
Lordship, Most Rev. Dr. Hilary
Okeke, Catholic Bishop of
Nnewi Diocese during his
pastoral visit on Sunday March
22, 2015.
One hundred and thirty
candidates received the
sacrament of Confirmation
The Pontifical Mass was
celebrated by Bishop Okeke
and con-celebrated by Rev. Fr.
Godfrey Okoli, Very Rev. Fr.
Patrick Ezefunamba, Episcopal
Vicar of Ihiala Region and Rev.
Fr. Dr.Ifeanyi Emejulu.
In his homily, Bishop Okeke
maintained that Christians
should always endeavour to
keep the commandments of
God and doctrines of the
Catholic Church.
He explained that Christians
should follow Christ in
obedience through adherence
with love to the teachings of the
Church.
He condemned all traditions
that are contrary to the
teachings of the Churchand
enjoined the lay faithful to pray
for the Grace of God to seek the
glory of God in their lives.
According to him, “We are born
sinners but we are reborn
through baptism, to live for the
glory of God. Let us not live
according to the maxims of the
but have a renewed spirit to live
as God instructs us through the
Church”
To the confirmed candidates,
Bishop Okeke told them that
they should through the help of
the Holy Spirit live their lives as
a sacrifice to the Glory of God.
He encouraged them to carry
their cross and follow Jesus
always.
In a vote of thanks, Fr. Okoli,
Parish Priest of St Joseph's
Parish, Ihiala thanked God for
the gift of Bishop Okeke to the
Diocese of Nnewi especially his
pastoral letters and writings
which has positively
transformed the lives of the
people in the Diocese.
Fr. Okoli equally expressed
appreciation to Very Rev. Fr.
Patrick Ezefunamba, Episcopal
Vicar of Ihiala Region,
VeryRev. Fr. Dr. Celestine
Okonkwor, Rev. Fr. Ifeanyi
Emejulu, the religious and the
entire parishioners for their
love and support to the success
of the event.
In a welcome address on behalf
of the Parish Council, Mrs.
Regina Obi, commended
Bishop Okeke for his support
for the welfare of the parish and
for providing a conducive
atmosphere for the growth of
the church in the diocese.
She paid glowing tributes to
their Parish Priest, Fr. Okoli,
for his dedication to duty and
infrastructural developments
in the parish.
In their separate
remarks during a special
reception organised for Bishop
Okeke, Dr. J.K Emejulu, Bro.
Charles
Ukachukwu, Vice
Chairman of the Parish Council
and chairman of the occasion
Bishop Okeke, Spiritans Celebrate
Fr. Akanigwo's Months Mind
By Ngozi Asonibe
T
he Catholic Bishop of
Nnewi Diocese Most
Rev. Hilary Okeke
,some priests, religious and
faithful of Nnewi Diocese and
the entire Congregation of the
Holy Ghost (Spiritans) Nigeria
gathered in prayer for the
months mind of Rev. Fr.
George Ofordueze Akanigwo
C.S.Sp at All Saint's Parish,
Ihiala on Monday, March 23.
The occasion started
with a Pontifical Mass
presided over by Bishop Okeke
and concelebrated by many
priests.
In his homily, Very
Rev. Fr. Goddy Odigbo C.S.Sp
described Fr. G. Akanigwo as a
Holy Priest, fulfilled and
happy Religious and thanked
God for the life of the deceased
priest.
He said that Fr.
Akanigwo kept faith with the
Church and the Congregation
and was highly noted for his
views on holiness, charity and
the efficacy of the Eucharist as
the source and summit of all
the activities of the Church.
“Anywhere he is, he
has a special way of touching
the people positively. He has a
very good and soft heart. He
was a good man”, he said.
In his remarks,
Bishop Okeke said that the
hope of every Christian is to
gain eternal life and urged all
Amichi Region Holds 2015 Lenten Assembly, Cathedraticum
-As Bishop Okeke Urges Christians to Imitate Christ
By Ngozi Asonibe
L
arge number of Catholic
faithful gathered at Our
Lady Queen of Heaven
Parish, Amichi and held the
2015 Lenten Assembly and
Cathedraticum in grand style.
The event which took place on
Monday, March 30, 2015 was
attended by 17 Parishes in
Amichi Region.
The Pontifical Mass
was presided over by His
Lordship, Most Rev. Dr. Hilary
Okeke, Catholic Bishop of
Nnewi Diocese and concelebrated by many priests.
In his homily, Bishop
Okeke maintained that baptized
Christians were fortunate to use
their talents to worship God
because they were handmaids of
God. He encouraged all to be
economical in their daily
expenses in order to help the
poor in their midst.
“Let's worship God in
Spirit and in truth. Let's imitate
Christ who willingly sacrificed
for the common good of
mankind. Let's be charitable
especially to the less privileged
in the society” he advised.
Speaking earlier
during the Regional Lenten
Assembly, Bishop Okeke
explained that Christians
should remember to offer their
bodies as living sacrifice to God
and to avoid modeling their
behaviour according to the
desires of the world.
Since Bible is the
foundation of our faith, he
urged all to study the Bible,
Magisterium and the
Documents of the second
Vatican Council, amongst
others.
and Hon. Afam Onunkwo
praised the Bishop for his
fatherly response to the needs of
their people and further pledged
the readiness of the parish to
support all diocesan
programmes.
In his response,
Bishop Okeke expressed
gratitude to the parishioners for
the warm welcome accorded him
and equally praised the level of
physical development going on
in the parish. He encouraged the
parishioners to work together
with their leaders and the
Church in order to ensure
harmonious growth of the
parish.
Highlights of the
occasion include a harvest of
songs and dances, cutting of the
cake and presentation of gifts to
the Bishop.
In his own remark, Dr.Emejulu
J.K. (KSM), Associate Professor
in Neurosurgery Nnamdi
Azikiwe University Nnewi
lauded Bishop Okeke on his
pastoral zeal and their parish
priest, Fr. Okoli to continue with
their good works at the parish
and Diocese
In an opening speech, Bro
Charles O. B. Ukachukwu
(KSM), Vice Chairman of the
Parish Council and chairman of
the occasion, on behalf of the
parish promised their fidelity
and support to Bishop Okeke
and their parish priest for the
positive improvement in their
parish and the Diocese.
Hon AfamOnunkwo, former
secretary of the parish council
urged the parishioners to keep
the faith burning and put more
efforts in building Gods House.
According to him,
“The problems we have are that
we do not study the word of
God. By studying the
scriptures, you can learn the
wisdom that leads to salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
Everything written in the Bible
is by God's inspiration.”
He said that
impurity, sexual vice, the
worship of false gods, sorcery
and antagonism should not be
noticed among the Christians.
Delivering the
welcome address, Very Rev. Fr
Augustine Ndukaji (Fr. Kajis),
Episcopal Vicar of Amichi
Region and Parish Priest of
Our Lady Queen of Heaven
Parish, Nnewi, expressed
appreciation to Bishop Okeke
for his pastoral zeal especially
in his writings to the people of
God.
F r . N d u k a j i
commended Rev. Fr. Daniel
Ileka, Dean of Amichi for
Deanery, Very Rev. Fr. Jude
Ikeokwu, Dean of Osumenyi
and the entire Amichi region
for their participation in the
2014 pilgrimage to Our Lady of
the Most Holy Rosary, Okija.
In his remark, Very
Rev. Fr. Jude Ikeokwu, Dean
of Osumenyi Deanery, Parish
Priest of St. Lawrence Parish,
Osumenyi and Chairman
Planning Committee of 2015
Cathedraticum, thanked
Bishop Okeke and pledged
their loyalty. He also
commended the Priests and
the people of Amichi region for
their support for the Diocese
especially the 2015 Amichi
Region Cathedraticum.
Presentation of gifts
to Bishop Okeke marked the
high point of the occasion.
to work for this.
In a vote of thanks,
Very Rev. Fr. Raphael
Ebedeagu, Parish Priest of All
Saints Parish, Ihiala
commended Bishop Okeke for
attending the event and further
commiserated with Holy Ghost
Congregation for the loss of Fr.
Akanigwo and prayed that
through the most gracious
intercession of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, God will grant him
eternal rest.
Some of the priests at
the occassion were: Very Rev.
Msgr. Mike Onyekachukwu,
Very Rev. Fr. Peter Agbonome
C.S.Sp, Very Rev. Fr. Michael
Esotu, Very Rev. Fr. Jude
Okafor, Very Rev. Fr. Francis
Okonkwo C.S.Sp ,Rev. Fr.
Joseph Okafor C.S.Sp. Others
are Very Rev. Fr. Steve
Chukwujekwu, Very Rev. Fr.
Gabriel Ezewudo C.S.Sp,
Religious and priests of Ihiala
Vocation Association.
Also in attendance was
the traditional ruler of Ihiala,
HRH Igwe Dr. Okechukwu
Oluoha, Ochiagha Ohanehi
among others.
Late Fr. G. Akanigwo
Other Dioceses
Bishop Lucius Ugorji Ordains 12 Deacons at Aba
Onitsha
Inter-Diocesan Tribunal,
Nnewi Liaison Office, Inaugurated
By Ifechukwu Ifedigbo
By Amara Ezukwo
Bishop Lucius Ugorji of Umuahia Diocese, Diocesan Administrator, Aba Diocese, Fr. Ajuonu, Founder,
Congregation of Christ the Emmanuel, Rev. Fr. Prof. John Egbulefu with the new deacons after the mass
Aba: The Catholic Bishop of
Umuahia Diocese, Most Rev.
Lucius Ugorji on the solemnity
of Annunciation, Wednesday,
March, 25 2015, raised 12 young
men to the order of deacons and
installed several others as
acolytes and lectors for the
Catholic Diocese of Aba at Christ
the King Cathedral, Aba, Abia
State. 8 deacons were ordained
for Aba diocese while four were
ordained for the Congregation of
Christ the Emmanuel.
The deacons for Aba
include, Rev. Ifedigbo Paschal,
Rev. Nwachukwu Kingseley,
Rev. Sixtus Amadi, Rev. Duru
Henry, Rev. Ihuoha
Chinaemere, Rev. Osuagwu
Ugochukwu, Rev. Onwunali
Vernatius, Rev. Anyanwu
Sanctus while others ordained
for Congregation of Christ the
Emmanuel a Congregation
founded by Rev. Fr. Prof. John
Egbulefu are, Rev. Stephen
Nwokemodo (CCE) Rev.
Iwunwa Frank (CCE) Rev.
Onyebuchi John (CCE) and Rev.
William Bassey (CCE)
In his homily during
the mass, Bishop Ugorji noted
that the diaconate ordination
coincided with one of the great
Feast of the church, the feast of
Annunciation of the Lord.
The Catholic Prelate
noted that Mary's Fiat, “I am the
handmaid of the Lord, let it be
done to me according to your
word (Lk 1:38)” is a very
courageous act of obedience,
docility and fidelity to the will of
God.
He maintained that
Mary gave her consent with the
belief that the will of God must
be done at all times and in all
circumstances.
Bishop Ugorji equally
said Mary's Fiat also continues to
give credence to the Fiat of the
Church who continues daily in
her work of salvation by
dispensing the sacraments.
Further, the ordaining
prelate said it is this same fiat
that guides the candidates for
the diaconate which makes them
answer Yes, I am present, when
called.
According to Bishop
Ugorji their positive response to
the Lord's call is blessed by God.
Bishop Ugorji called
on the candidates for the
diaconate ordination to always
remember that the office for
which they are about to accept is
one of service and equally
requires humility.
He urged them to
continue to do their work with
zeal and humility and backed by
the grace of God, when they are
ordained priests, their priestly
ministry will be one founded on
deep faith in the Lord and
characterized by joy.
Earlier in his opening
r e m a r k , D i o c e s a n
Administrator, Very Rev. Fr.
Innocent Ajuonu welcomed the
ordaining prelate, priests and lay
faithful from various part of the
country and wished them a
happy celebration.
In a vote of thanks,
Rev. Fr. Stephen Ezema,
thanked the ordaining prelate
for accepting to ordain the new
deacons for the diocese.
He equally expressed
the gratitude of the diocese to
the large number of priests,
religious men and women and
other lay faithful who graced the
diaconate ordination with their
presence.
L-r Frs Damian Obi, Paul Onwughalu, Don Chidolue, John Ohaegbu Bishop Okeke, Joe Nwakoby, Prof. Chiegboka,
Fr.Evaristus Oruche and George Ezukwo during the inauguration of Onitsha Inter Diocesan Tribunal, Nnewi Liason Office
O
n Wednesday, March
25, 2015, the Bishop of
the Catholic Diocese of
Nnewi, Most Rev. Hilary Okeke,
inaugurated the Nnewi
Diocesan Tribunal office.
The event which had
in attendance the Onitsha,
Awka and Nnewi diocesan
tribunal personnel was held at
Eze Iweka Donates Church Building
To Onitsha Catholic Archdiocese
I
n an effort to satisfy his
burning desire of building
God a place of worship,
the traditional ruler of Obosi
Ancient kingdom, His
Majesty, Igwe Chukwudubem
Iweka III has eventually
purchased a sizeable land
along Obosi-Nkpor road to
build a church for the Catholic
Archdiocese of Onitsha.
Eze Iweka, speaking
while presenting the land to
Archbishop Valerian Okeke
for consecration, disclosed
that the church building would
be token gift from his family
for the promotion of the
gospel.
Responding, the
Catholic Archbishop of
Onitsha, His Grace, Most Rev.
Valerian Okeke, commended
the Obosi monarch for the
decision to build God a place
of worship, pointing that the
Igwe was lucky to have gotten
his approval because, he
hardly accept such offer from
every individual.
The bishop prayed
that the church, when
completed, would help in
propagating the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
Many dignitaries
including politicians,
members of the Igwes' cabinet
and community leaders
attended the consecration
ceremony.
A Call To Conversion
Bishop Okeke’s Easter Message
Contd from front page
Easter comes around as a celebration of victory of our Lord Jesus
Christ over the forces of evil that led to his crucifixion and death.
Like the corn, Jesus Christ died in order to bear much fruit, the
fruit of eternal salvation for those who would believe in Him. His
death and resurrection are great lessons for us: death is not the
end of everything but a transition that will lead to either eternal
victory or to eternal shame. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a
guarantee to everybody who is committed to a life of faith and
virtue to achieve eternal victory in the face of the challenges of evil
that surround him or her.
Nigeria like the Israel of old is faced with the stark reality
of evil. God complained about Israel: "Whenever I would heal
Israel, I am confronted by the guilt of Ephraim and the evil-doings
of Samaria; for deceit is their principle of behaviour" (Hosea 7:1).
We are praying for Nigeria in distress but the evils in our country
are mounting. Deceit, falsehood, infamy, corruption, violence and
threats of violence are increasingly the order of the day. The viral
effects are there for everybody to see - a country blessed with
human and material resources but that cannot provide and
maintain basic amenities for the generality of the people. Why?
Those who have access to the material resources of this country
exploit them for their own interest!
It is said that people seeking for political offices were
distributing millions and billions of dollars and Naira in order to
be voted into office. If that is true, do those people have the
interest of the people and the desire to serve them at heart? Or are
they primarily interested in getting into public office in order to
exploit the people, loot the resources and recover the money
which they spent to get into the office and make unimaginable
gains? When one hears of the amount taken as salaries,
allowances and other take-homes of our elected government
persons, one can understand the do-or-die approach to elections.
Elective posts in Nigeria seem to be principally for selfaggrandizement and not for the service of the people.
Jesus Christ remains the main challenge to us in Nigeria.
He came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a
ransom for many (see Mark 10:45). He died on the cross for our
salvation. The Father raised Him up and gave Him the name which
is above every other name "so that all beings in the heavens, on
earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of
Jesus and every tongue should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10-11). The One who was
ready to suffer and die for others is the King of kings and Lord of
lords (see Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16)1 Those who aspire
to positions of authority whether in the state or in the Church or in
any group at all should have a change of mentality. This is another
way of saying that what we need in Nigeria is conversion,
metanoio -a complete change of heart and mentality, a new
mindset so as to be able imbibe the service disposition of Jesus
Christ.
When will Nigerians be in the position to put service
before and above conditions of service? The sad situation is that
most Nigerians put themselves forward for work, get employed
but avoid working as much as possible. However, they never give
up the quest for monetary and other material gains and
inducement attached to the work. This is evident from the ease
and constancy with which Nigerian workers resort to strikes,
prolong strikes and yet insist on receiving their full pay for the
time when they are on strike when they render no service. This is
unjust and immoral. A change of heart and disposition can make
Nigerians, especially those in the public sector, more productive
and more service-oriented for the progress of our country.
Easter is the triumph of sacrifice and service over selfcentredness, selfishness, self-interest and self aggrandizement
which lead to exploitation of people, position, office and
the Catholic secretariat of
Nnewi diocese.
In his opening
remark during the
inauguration, Rev. Fr.
Nwakoby Joseph, the Onitsha
Archdiocesan Judicial Vicar
commended the Bishop for his
concern towards the
establishment and
inauguration of the Nnewi
tribunal office since others
were already on board.
In his inaugural
speech, the Bishop thanked all
the tribunal personnel in
attendance and urged them to
show commitment in the task,
so as to ensure progress of the
work. He added that since the
tribunal was a special one and
required special training, he
would ensure that they
received the required training.
He later inaugurated
the Onitsha inter-diocesan
tribunal, Nnewi Liaison office
on behalf of the metropolitan
Archbishop of Onitsha and
other Bishops of the province.
In his speech, Rev.
Fr. Prof. Anthony Chiegboka
of Awka liaison office, urged
the bishop to reduce the duty of
those in the tribunal and also
urged his colleagues to have
special budget for the tribunal
office since it is part of the
Curia.
In a brief chat with
newsmen, the judicial vicar, Very
Rev. Fr. John Ohaegbu, stated
that the Nnewi diocesan tribunal
works simultaneously with the
Onitsha Archdiocese for
effectiveness. He mentioned
some of their achievements so far
in terms of organizing and
collegial cooperation among the
trio tribunal of Onitsha, Awka
and Nnewi dioceses and noted
that although the Nnewi tribunal
office was inaugurated, they were
still under the Onitsha tribunal.
Those that attended
t h e t ri b u nal i nau g u rat i o n
include: Most Rev. Hilary Okeke,
Bishop of Nnewi diocese, Rev. Fr.
Prof. Anthony Chiegboka, (Judge
Awka diocese), Rev. Fr. Joseph
Nwakoby (Judicial vicar,
Onitsha inter-diocesan marriage
tribunal), Rev. Fr. Damian Obi,
Rev. Fr. Chidolue Donald
(Promoter of Justice), Rev. Fr.
John Ohaegbu (Judicial Vicar,
Nnewi diocese), Rev.Fr. Paul
Onwughalu (Defender of the
bond), Rev. Fr. George Ezukwo,
(Judge Nnewi Diocese) and Rev.
Fr. Evaristus Oruche (Notary).
In appreciation, the
Judicial Vicar of Nnewi diocese,
Fr. Ohaegbu, thanked all that
attended the ceremony. The
Bishop informed all that soon
more equipment will be procured
for the Nnewi tribunal office.
resources. With Pope Francis we say: No to selfishness and selfcentred lifestyle of the pagans (see Apostolic Exhortation,
Evangelii Goudium- The Joy of the Gospel, nos. 81, 193). Even
though our politicians are not the only ones guilty of selfcentredness and enthronement of self interest, they are leaders
and therefore should have the new mindset of solidarity and
concern for the common good. Pope Francis made a special point
for politicians and I am sure that politicians in Nigeria should
listen and take his words to heart: "I beg the Lord to grant us more
politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the
people, the lives of the poor! It is vital that government leaders
and financial leaders take heed and broaden their horizons,
working to ensure that all citizens have dignified work, education
and healthcare. Why not turn to God and ask him to inspire their
plans? I am firmly convinced that openness to the transcendent
can bring about a new political and economic mindset which will
help to break down the wall of separation between the economy
and the common good of society" (Apostolic Exhortation,
Evangelii Gaudium -The Joy of the Gospel, no. 205).
My sisters and brothers, fellow Nigerians and all who
live in Nigeria, especially in these trying times of national and
state elections, may this Easter message bring about conversio
morum - the conversion of our way of life so that these words will
help "those who are in thrall to an individualistic, indifferent and
self-centred mentality to be freed from those unworthy chains
and to attain a way of living and thinking which is humane, noble
and fruitful, and which will bring dignity to their presence on this
earth" (Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation, EvangelH
Gaudium - The Joy of the Gospel, no. 208). Indeed, we Nigerians
need conversion of heart more than transformation and change
for as Pope Francis rightly said, "Changing structures without
generating new convictions and attitudes will only ensure that
those same structures will become, sooner or later, corrupt,
oppressive and ineffectual" (The Joy of the Gospel, no. 189).
Fellow Nigerians, we need conversion of heart and not of
structures! Happy Easter to you all
NEWS
SARS Kills 5 Kidnappers,Parade 20 Other Suspects
T
he Commissioner of
police, Mr Hassan Hosea
Karma has paraded 20
suspected kidnappers and
armed robbers as well as 5
kidnappers killed in fire
exchange by the Special Anti
Robbery Squad (SARS) led by
CSP James Nwafor.
Just as Governor
Willie Obiano while reacting to
the SARS success at Governor's
Lodge, Amawbia said the
breakthroughs recorded by the
Police in the month of March
this year was impressive and
commendable. Obiano
commended Commissioner of
Police, Hosea Karmar and
SARS Commander, James
Nwafor, as well as other security
agencies and the Operation
Mkpochapu for their
doggedness and resilience in
fighting crime in the State.
Obiano warned:
“Criminals cannot be allowed to
derail our match to greatness in
Anambra. My government and
the security agencies are ever
ready to deal with unscrupulous
elements that breach law and
order especially before, during
and after elections. I wish to
assure law abiding citizens that
their safety and that of our
guests is assured”
He commended the
security operatives for the
arrest of the Kidnappers, armed
robbery suspects/receivers of
robbery items, arrest of false
informant and rapists within
the period.
He said the onslaught
against criminals is yielding
positive results and is providing
the much needed peaceful
environment for the 2015
general elections.
SARS killed four
members of a kidnap gang
including a gospel band leader,
one Paschal Obinna Offor from
Arondizuogu, Imo State, in a
gun duel at their den in
Eziowelle, Idemmili North
Local Government Area.
Obinna had been on
the wanted list of SARS and at a
time, the mother was arrested
with some kidnapped victims
from his home at the village and
he went at large but luck ran out
them as they went for another
kidnap unknown to them that
SARS had received
information. He, alongside
others, met their waterloo.
Leader of the gang
who sustained bullet wounds
after the encounter was also
caught while 18 other suspected
armed robbers, rapist and a
dealer in counterfeit currency
were paraded.
Confirming the feat
achieved by SARS, the
Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Hosea. Karma pointed out that
on March 25, this year,
following a tip-off, SARS
operatives raided the kidnap
den at Eziowelle where the late
Gospel Artiste, Obinna Offor,
the leader of the gang, one
Abuchi Arinze Onoja from
Enugu-Ezike, Igboeze North
LGA, Jude Obi from Asaba,
Delta State, Chinedu Emelue
from Anaku in Ayamelum LGA
of Anambra State, Uchenna
Chike from Awkuzu, Urama
Chizoba Jude from EnuguEzike in Igboeze North LGA,
engaged them in a shoot-out.
Mr. Karma stated
that, in the process, the security
operatives freed one victim,
Jacob Uchenna who was
kidnapped on March 22, this
year along Limca Rroad,
Onitsha but was rescued
unhurt.
Items recovered from
the gang include two AK 47
rifles, four AK 47 magazines,
one pump action rifle, 177
rounds of 7.62mm live
ammunition and 30 live
c a r t r i d g e s ,
T h e
P o l i c e
Commissioner disclosed further
that the security operatives had
on March 25, arrested one
Emeka Ikegwuonu, 18 years,
accused of robbing one Mrs.
Josephine of a set of jewelries
valued at about N1.4 million,
one Nokia phone valued at
N15,000 in addition to cash to
the tune of N40,000 which he
sold to one Aljaji Ibrahim
Garuba, 45 years, who was later
arrested by the Police at
Nnewichi for receiving the
stolen items.
T e
P o l i c e
Commissioner also said the
Police had earlier in February
19, arrested one Echezona
Ibekwe and Ikechukwu Ukoro,
both from Obosi in Idemili
North LGA of Anambra State
along Obosi Flyover. The
accused persons robbed one
Mrs. Edith Eduzor of her
handbag containing the sum of
N20,000 and some jewelries at
Umuagu village Oba in Idemili
South LGA of the State.
According to Karma,
similar breakthrough was
achieved when on March 8, this
year, when one Ifeanyi Uzor,
Michael Ifenatu and three
others still at large intercepted
passengers of an L-300 Bus on
transit from Owerri to Onitsha
and at gun point, robbed them of
all their valuable property like
IPAD, Phone, valued at N100,
000 and certain amount of
physical cash at New Park
Owerri Road, Onitsha. He
confirmed that two suspects
who fled from the scene were
later arrested on March 19 with a
National Driver's License
bearing the name of Dr. Mrs
Nneka Esomonu being part of
the items robbed from her.
Mr. Karma revealed
that on March 15, this year, one
Uche Madu, 20, of Eziama
village, Uli in Ihiala LGA and
Daniel Ndidague of Ukpo who
specialized in snatching of
motorcycles were arrested for
robbing one Mrs Uche Blessing
and Uche Chinaza, a native of
Ukpo in Dunukofia of a cash
sum of N18, 000, mobile shell
handset valued at N10,000 on
gun point.
Furthermore, he
disclosed that on March 15, this
year, the Police arrested one
Anthony Anyaegbunam from
Uli for allegedly robbing one
Ezike Amarachi of Umuama
village, Uli of two handsets
valued at N50, 000. He said the
suspects and others at large who
posed as passengers robbed and
shot the victim at the back with a
locally-made pistol. He also
pointed out that on March 18,
the Police arrested one
Ifenatuoha Oformairu, 40 years,
from Ofufu Amakwe village,
Ozubulu, for allegedly raping
one Chioma (surname withheld)
f r o m s a m e a r e a .
The Commissioner of
Police highlighted another case
which occurred on March 21,
this year when one Mrs.
Anthonia Adeli of Nando raised
a false alarm that she was
kidnapped by one Chibogu
Jideofor and others, but she
managed to escape. However,
following investigation, the
Commissioner said that it was
discovered that one Chibueze
Adeli, her son, had grievously
assaulted one Oluchukwu Olise,
the wife to Chibogu for refusing
to marry him and was on the run
before Mrs Anthonia came to
give the false information to
mislead members of the public.
Moreover, he said
that the security operatives
accosted another five-man
gang preparing for armed
robbery operation at Obosi
community, when men of the
Special Ant- Robbery Squad
(SARS) operatives from Ogidi
and vigilante group from Obosi
moved to Afa-Dike village
Obosi, where both Ebuka
Maduka and Nwanegbo Ebuka
were arrested with one double
barrel pistol while three others
escaped from the scene.
The Commissioner of
Police also hailed commitment
of His Excellency, Governor
Obiano, to crime fighting and
the unity amongst the Police,
Army, Navy and other security
agencies for cooperating to
achieve the feat against
Gospel Artiste and Kidnap Kingpin Mr. Pascal Obinna Ofor from Arondizuogu Imo, State is one the
Kidnappers shot dead in their den at Eziowelle, Dunukofia Local government Area, Anambra State
“Blame Ojukwu for Nigeria's Civil War”
- Yakubu Gowon
C
hukwuemeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu University,
(COOU ) formerly known
as Anambra State University,
Uli, stood still for the former
military Head of State, General
Yakubu Gowon, during the a pre
convocation lecture of the
university, as he reminisced on
the Nigerian civil war between
1967-1970. He charged Ndigbo
to blame late Dim Ojukwu for
the war.
Gowon who did not
show remorse on the war as he
said he did his best to defend the
indivisibility of the Nigerian
entity, blamed the leader of the
Biafra Natio, late Chief
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu, for the outbreak of the
civil war which lasted for three
years.
He said that Ojukwu's
refusal to adhere to the
agreement reached at the Aburi
Accord was the reason for the
war, adding that Ojukwu went
beyond what was agreed even as
Gowon blamed himself for not
making a broadcast
immediately sequel to malaria
that caught up with him at
Ghana after the Aburi Accord.
Speaking as a guest
lecturer at the Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu Ojukwu
Universirty, (COOU) preconvocation lecture to herald
the 6th Convocation of the
university, Gowon said that
Ojukwu's stubbornness which
led him to hold a state broadcast
contrary to the agreement in the
Aburi accord and also declaring
that the accord was for a confederal government, was the
reason for the war.
He said, “The accord
was meant to enable parties
involved break the ice and meet
as officers and gentlemen to
discuss and solve our problem
and preferably in our
homeland, but Ojukwu insisted
on a foreign land.
“We went there with
no preposition paper, but to
meet and discuss, but Ojukwu
came with a prepared paper. On
return from Ghana it was
agreed that I will make the first
broadcast and the regional
heads will make theirs, but I
was down with malaria, but
when I came back, Ojukwu had
gone on air to say we agreed to a
confederation which I had
strongly objected.
“This was why we
made Decree eight, which
Ojukwu rejected. We made the
decree and were ready to
implement it to the letter
because we had given Ojukwu
all that he wanted. I got the
secretary to the government
and some senior civil servant to
review the accord and we came
up with the decree I had
mentioned. So, whoever said
the accord failed because of me
is not saying the truth, and if
there had been no secession by
Ojukwu, there would have been
no civil war.
“I have read several
accounts with some amusing
me. One of them was that which
pertain to the Aburi accord and
failure to stop the civil war.
Ojukwu had already taken
some anti government stand
including the hijacking of
Nigeria Airways plane and
annexation of branches of CBN,
Post Offices and cornering of
revenue to the new state, and all
these meant succession which
led to the war.” Gowon said.
He insisted that even
in the outbreak of hostilities,
they never referred to
themselves as enemies. He also
insisted that the code of
conduct for the war which
included that women and
children should not be killed,
but protected; all who
surrendered must not be killed
but taken as prisoners of war;
churches and mosque must be
spared; civilians and military
men must receive the same
medical attention were all fully
followed and, in cases where
the rules were broken, the
soldiers were summarily
executed to teach others a
lesson.
Gowon said, “I have
come to assure you that I was
sincere in the war to save
Nigeria from collapse and I am
sorry for all that were killed that
had nothing to do with the war.
You can also understand that
the whole situation was taken
by men within their 20s and
30s, so, it should be
understandable if any rash
decisions were taken, but we
must congratulate ourselves for
emerging strong, and we owe
that to the Igbos who accepted
the reconciliation move.”
Gowon said that,
besides all that transpired
between he and Ojukwu during
the war, he believed strongly
that he and Ojukwu shared one
thing in common, and that was
their being principled men.
“The war ensued
because we both stuck to our
principles, and we were
working to preserve the
integrity of our country. I
Anambra State Commissioner for Education Prof. Kate Omenugha Omenugha
presenting an award to General Yakubu Gowon
understand and respect his
position, but not the extreme
positions he took and if he were
in my shoes, I am sure, he would
have done the same, so, we never
disliked each other.”
Speaking on the
position of the country presently,
Gowon said the2015 election
presented Nigerians with the
opportunity of choosing a leader
with the ballot and not through
the guns.
“We must avoid war,
history showed that no country
has ever survived two civil wars,
so, it is better to jaw jaw than to
war war.”
Also speaking on Igbo
presidency, Gowon regretted
that PDP missed the opportunity
of letting an Igbo man occupy
Aso Rock when it missed the
ticket of the party, and stated that
only the occupation of the Aso
Rock Villa would fully assuage
the hurt felt by the Igbos as a
result of the civil war.
“We hope that a time
will come when the Igbo will get
the opportunity to rule this
country and give it the leadership
it deserves.” Gowon said.
Meanwhile, a mild
drama occurred during the
lecture when a retired Biafra
Soldier with Biafran number
ECNA 1047 and by name G.T.I
Uzodigwe who was told that
General Gowon was in the
occasion, came, dressed in full
military regalia, beating security
personnel to step up to the door,
when the general was delivering
his lecture, banging it very hard
and demanding to see Gowon;
but, diplomacy prevailed and he
was calmed to wait until Gowon
was through with his lecture.
That never happened anyway.
“I have a lot of things to
tell him, I want to look him in the
eyes and let him also look into my
eyes. I am sure he will know me
and I demand to see him now,”
the retired Biafran soldier
insisted.
He was however
stopped from seeing the general
as his motive was deemed
unclear.
Prof. Fidelis Okafor,
the Vice Chancellor of the
university, thanked the guest
lecturer for setting the record of
the civil war straight.
Governor Willie
Obiano, represented by his
Education Commissioner, Prof.
Kay Omenugha, went memory
lane to enumerate achievements
his office and how lofty the
d r e a m s o f O b i a n o
administration is, especially in
the educational sector.
COLUMN
You Can Be A Saint
St. Nicholas of Flüe (1417-1487), aka Bruder Klaus or Niklaus von Flüe,
Patron of Switzerland
“We should carry the
Passion of God in our
hearts, for this is the
greatest consolation to a
man at the hour of his
death.” — St. Nicholas of
Flüe
St. Nicholas of Flüe, the
founding father and
patron saint of modern
Switzerland was born on
March 21, 1417 in the
Canton (State) of
Rev. Fr. Anthony Nzubechukwu Ibegbunam
Unterwalden on the lake
[email protected]
of Lucerne, Switzerland.
His parents, Henry von
Flue and Emma Robert, were very devout Catholics.
Nicholas was remarkable even as a child for his piety,
goodness, simplicity and sound judgement. As a young man
even though he labored in the valleys and fields he fasted four
times per week. When asked why, he simply replied, “such is
the will of God.”
In 1447 at the age of 30 he married Dorothea
Wissling. They were blessed with ten children, five boys and
five girls. Though married, Nicholas continued the devout
practice of his youth. His eldest son John gave this testimony:
“My father always retired to rest at the same time as his
children and servants; but every night I saw him get up again,
and heard him praying in his room until morning. Often too he
would go in the silence of the night to the old Church of St.
Nicholas or to other holy places” [Herbert Thurston & Donald
Attwater (eds.) Butler's lives of the saints, Vol. I Christian
Classics, Westminster, Maryland, 1990, p. 661.]
My ways are not your ways and my thoughts not your
thoughts. (Is. 55:8). The ways of the Lord are often mysterious
and unfathomable to us mortals. This was manifested in the
life of Nicholas. Though a married man with many children,
“God persisted in calling him to a life beyond that of the
domestic holiness he had already embraced, and sent visions
to him in his late-night prayer vigils and his moments of
afternoon solitude in the fields, visions that beckoned him to
leave all.” [Christopher O. Blum, “The Primacy of the Spiritual:
Saint Nicholas of Flue”, “He was fifty years old when an
interior voice said to him: 'Leave everything you love, and God
will take care of you.' He had to undergo a distressing combat,
but decided finally to leave everything — wife, children, house,
lands — to serve God.” [Saint Nicholas of Flue (1417-1487),
Hermit,
The Benedictine monk Fr. Michael Jungo in his book
Verborgene Krone: Lebensgeschichte der Dorothea von Flue,
4th ed. Stein am Rhein, 1984, Pp. 47ff. [Hidden crown:
Biography of Dorothea von Flue] portrays the separation of
the two spouses as follows: Dorothea had just nursed her son
Nicholas, who was only a few weeks old, and put her youngest
to bed. Still a bit pale, she then sat down quietly at her spinning
wheel. Then her husband Klaus, came in. He paced up and
down the room a few times, then sat down opposite her at the
far end of the bench along the wall. For a long time he
wordlessly watched the swift play of the spindle. Then he got
up quickly, went to the windowand gazed at the evening light
as it grew dim. Without turning around and without warning,
he broke the heavy silence. “wife” he said, almost gruffly, “I
must go away; God wants me to!” She became deathly pale, got
up with effort while continuing to stare at him, took a step
backward, and leaned against the wall. He had turned around
and now came closer toward her, his eyes fixed upon her lips as
though seeking help…. Her voice sounded brittle: “It can't be,
Klaus! It just can't be!”
The following days were like a pitch black night for
Klaus and Dorothea…. “What will become of our children, if
you leave?” Dorothea spoke up as though continuing as inner
dialogue with Klaus. “God who is taking their father away, will
himself be a Father to them” he answered. “And this little
puppy here?” she said as the youngest child started to
whimper. “God has chosen him to enter his service.” Thus
Klaus uttered a prophecy. (their youngest child later became
a Catholic priest). She retorted, however, “Are not we two
united for all eternity through the Blood of Christ?” He
replied, “Yes, that we are; and only your free consent can let
me go—to live alone with God….” Dorothea fell silent, lost in
thought. Then it erupted: “Woe is me! I cannot do it!.... You
took me from my father's house…. Brother, father, husband,
you became everything for me…. Wherever I look, I see only
you…… My sorrow becomes joy when you share it, and my joy
is bliss when it shines from your eyes….” He buried his face in
his hands and then said, emphasizing each word “God will be
everything for you, too child!” “Ah, God is far away and you are
so near….. It is more that I can bear!”
That same evening, Dorothea found her husband
kneeling before the cradle. He was motionless with his hands
folded at his lips. As though spellbound, she stood at the
threshold. Yet she could not control herself for long, her tears
overflowed and sobbing, she exclaimed, “Klaus!” He started,
looked around timidly but remained kneeling. “Klaus! If it is
necessary for you to be happy and at peace—I don't want to
stand in the way of your happiness…. If only you will be happy,
then I don't matter.” “Ah, wife” said Klaus, “it is not a question
of my happiness—but of his, of God's will! He has bound me; I
am his prisoner, and he is taking me where I do not want to
go.” “How can I believe that he, who has joined us forever
wants to take you from me and bind you to himself ?”—“I don't
understand it either. I only know that he is the Lord and that
his love is calling me irresistibly into solitude…. Where and
why, he alone knows…. Oh if I only knew!” “What more can I
say?” She said after an oppressive silence. “Go then. Go! And
God help me!” Then as though she was having second
thoughts: “Am I doing it for God; am I doing it for you? I no
longer know my own mind. I only know that I love you more
than ever and that it is only for love of you that I gave my
consent….” Her face had reddened slightly, and her eyes shone
the way they did the time she had given that other, first sweet
consent.
Klaus had stood up slowly and, without taking his eyes off her,
raised his callused hand, as though he wanted to caress her
head—but he stopped midway through the gesture and let his
hand drop…. She had noticed the movement and offered her
freckled neck. The warm touch that she yearned for did not
come. The farewell had begun. She threw herself well on her
knees beside the bed, hid her head in the covers and sobbed….
The next three days weighed up upon the Von Flue house like a
nightmare.” [Cf. Ferdinand Holböck, Married Saints and
Blesseds through the centuries, trans by Michael J. Miller,
Ignatius press, San Francisco, 2002, Pp. 290-292] The father
confided his plan to his eldest son and handed over to him all
his property.
On October 15, 1467 Nicholas and Dorothea prayed
together the whole night through. It was a harrowing moment
on October 16, 1467, Nicholas, dressed in a poor hermit's hood,
head uncovered, and barefoot, with his rosary and pilgrim
staff, stood before his family and bid them farewell. Once
again, he blessed each of his children. Then he took the
The life of Nicholas was marked by such
obedience and intimacy with God that, as
a hermit, he lived on the Holy Eucharist
alone taking no earthly food and drink for
over nineteen years before he died. This
phenomenon defied all human
explanation—a miracle indeed. The civil
and ecclesiastical authorities were
startled by this fact and had his hermitage
surveyed and verified this fact as being
beyond question.
youngest, named Nicholas after him and only sixteen weeks
old, out of the cradle and put him in the arms of his wife,
thanking her again for everything. The husband and wife took
leave of each other forever. [Ibid. Pp. 292-293]
Thus, after twenty years of marriage, Nicholas left his
wife and his children and became a hermit in response to
divine call. When he became a hermit, he called himself
Brother Klaus (Nicholas). After initial attempt as a wandering
pilgrim, then as a recluse on mount Klisteri in the Alps. He
finally settled in Ranft, in the Melch valley, not far from his
home. There he devoted himself entirely to prayer and
penance.
The children of Klaus did not suffer from his decision.
They grew up as devout Christians and leaders of their
communities. Two of the five sons were elected to the highest
office in the canton (state)—landammann. The youngest,
Nicholas, true to his father's prophecy became a priest. A
grandson, Konrad Scheuber (the son of Verena, the oldest
daughter of St. Nicholas of Flue) followed in his grandfather's
footsteps he became a highly esteemed landammann. Leaving
all behind he became a hermit and died a holy death and is now
a Servant of God. The family line of “Brother Klaus [Nicholas]”
has not been extinguished to this day and among his
descendants, besides the saint's youngest son, there have been
over thirty priests who served the church. [Ibid. Pp. 288-289]
The sanctity, wisdom and reputation of Nicholas as a
great peace maker spread throughout Europe. This led many
people, from peasants to royalty, to visit him and seek his
counsel. Many flocked to his hermitage to listen to his simple,
direct words: “O man, when the world hates you and is
faithless toward you, think of your God, how He was struck and
spat upon. You should not accuse your neighbor of guilt, but
pray to God that he be merciful to you both.” [Christopher O.
Blum, “The Primacy of the Spiritual: Saint Nicholas of Flue”]
In 1480, Brother Nicholas “performed the so-called
“Swiss Miracle” when he was called out of his hermitage near
the Swiss village of Stans to mediate a dispute that threatened
civil war and the breakup of the Swiss confederation of cantons
(states). So successful and miraculous was his peacemaking
that it helped his compatriots form a country that, for the large
part of 500 years afterward, has remained at peace with itself
and its neighbors.” [Edward Pentin, “Pope's Visit to Highlight
Catholic Roots Of Switzerland and Europe”, in National
Catholic Register,
Sunday, May 23,
2
0
0
4
,
http://www.ncregis
ter.com/site/article
/popes_visit_to_hi
ghlight_catholic_ro
ots_of_switzerland
_and_europe/#ixzz
3VfSn0wOg]
The life of Nicholas
was marked by such
obedience and
intimacy with God
that, as a hermit, he
lived on the Holy
St. Nicholas of Flüe
Eucharist alone
taking no earthly food and drink for over nineteen years before
he died. This phenomenon defied all human explanation—a
miracle indeed. The civil and ecclesiastical authorities were
startled by this fact and had his hermitage surveyed and
verified this fact as being beyond question.
Nicholas died on March 21, 1487 at the age of seventy, after a
life of almost continual prayer and severe penances. He was
beatified in 1669 by Pope Clement IX, and canonized a saint on
May 15, 1947 by Pope Pius XII.
Many Christian couples may not understand the
decision of Nicholas to become a hermit, leaving an
indissoluble Christian marriage. They may wonder as how is
this possible. It is important not to overlook the following
important circumstances:
1.
Saint Nicholas Von Flue did not leave his wife and
children frivolously and unthinkingly, but rather
after a difficult interior struggle.
2.
He did so only after conferring seriously and
conscientiously with his spiritual director and
confessor, Father Heimo Amgrund from Kerns
3. He was obeying God's call, which he clearly discerned
only after much prayer.
4. He sought solitude with God not out of selfishness,
personal preference, or laziness but for the love of
God alone.
5.
Finally, he made this painful decision only after
discussing it for several days with his wife and only
after she had agreed to a “separation from bed and
board”. Even then, neither one found the separation
easy to accept. [Ibid. p. 289]
When God calls us we must respond. As the eminent Swiss
theologian Charles Cardinal Journet (1891-1975) explained in
his biography of the hermit-saint, “it no longer sufficed for him
to walk along the roads of the world with God in his heart; he
had to take the path set aside for him, that he might be taken by
the hand and led to where he knew not.” What praise of
Dorothy of Flue could be lovelier, Cardinal Journet asked,
than to admire her magnanimity in being able to “comprehend
the drama of this great soul”? They parted friends, just
thirteen weeks after the birth of their youngest child, and
remained so. Several years later, a pilgrim visitor to Nicholas'
hermitage saw the saint, with joyous mien, lean out of the
window of his tiny cell after the morning Mass to greet his
family with a blessing: “May God give you a blessed day, dear
friends and good people!” [Christopher O. Blum, “The
Primacy of the Spiritual: Saint Nicholas of Flue”]
LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF ST. NICHOLAS OF
FLÜE
The great Dominican priest and Doctor of the Church, St.
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) taught that although our minds
are limited in their ability to attain God in this life, we are
capable of “greater desire, and love, and pleasure in knowing
divine matters” than we are able to find in “the perfect
knowledge of the lowest things.” St Nicholas of Flue (14171487) was in perfect agreement with this teaching of St.
Thomas Aquinas. He once said that “God “gives us such a taste
for prayer that we yearn for it as if we were waiting to go to a
dance.” [Christopher O. Blum, “The Primacy of the Spiritual:
S a i n t
N i c h o l a s
o f
F l u e ”
http://www.crisismagazine.com/2013/the-primacy-of-thespiritual-saint-nicholas-of-flue]
The life of St. Nicholas teaches us the importance of prayer.
Prayer is the strength of man. When God calls, man must
respond. His abandonment of the world was an abandonment
of its false values, but not of his fellow human beings in their
simple yearnings.
Let us conclude this reflection with the habitual prayer of St.
Nicholas which was quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic
Church no 226:
“My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances
me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer
to you.
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to
you.”
NEWS
Papal Honours, Investiture
& Thanksgiving Mass
I
ndividuals, parishes, religious
societies, CMO, CWO, CGO,
CBO, Religious congregations,
Knights, Cooperate Institutions, etc
have the opportunity to identify with
these our brothers and sisters by
sending good-will and
congratulatory messages to them.
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DEADLINE: Friday, April 24 2015
CONTACTS: Mokwugwo Solomon
Tel: 08063831036,
Tel: Ngozi
Asonibe 08063979797, Amara
Ezukwo Tel: 08160243942 or
Catholic Communications Office,
Nnewi and Accounts Office, Cath
Secretariat, Nnewi.
Names of those honoured by
Pope Francis in Nnewi Diocese
1. Monsignori: Msgr Michael
Onyekachukwu, Msgr. Christopher
Ejizu. Msgr. Pius Ilechukwu and
Msgr. Patrick Ezeobata.
2. Pro Ecclesias et Pontifice
Medal: Rev. Mother Amaka
Osegbo, MSDM; Rev. Sr. Mary
Endalene Mozie, IHM; Rev .Sr.
Loretto Okoli, DDL
3. Benemerenti Medal: Rev.sr.
Julie Agbakoba, MC; Rev. Br.
Benedict Azebeokhai, BSS; Mrs
MaryRose Odunukwe, Mrs
Veronica Ilika; Mrs Juliana
Chukwudebelu; Mrs. Mary Chinwe
Nnabuife; Mrs. Pauline Chika Obi;
Mrs.Patricia Atuenyi; Mrs Gloria
Ifeoma Ofordeme; Miss Rose Chika
Okeke; Mrs. Carolina Kanayo
Ikeabbah; Mrs.Theodora Okwy
Igwegbe.
Hon. Madugwu Attracts Subsidized
Kerosene to Her Constituency
By Oliver-Ross Udeafor
I
n keeping with her
promise to ensure that
democracy dividends
meant for her constituency
gets to them, the member
representing Nnewi South
II constituency in the
Anambra State House of
Assembly, Hon. Barr. Rita
M a d u b u g w u , o n
Wednesday 25 t h March,
attracted Gov. Obiano's
subsidized kerosene to her
people.
The scheme, a
palliative measure from
Governor Willie Obiano,
meant for all the 177
communities in the state,
saw a truck loaded with
5000 litres of kerosene sold
directly to the people at the
official pump price of N50
per litre. The exercise took
place at the St. Mary's
Mother of the Church field,
Ukpor; where over 1000
people from the six political
wards in the town benefited
from the exercise.
The sale of the
product was supervised by
Hon. Maduagwu herself
and a government official
who made sure that the
people got the product
without chaos.
Speaking to our
reporter, Hon. Mrs
Madubugwu who is also the
APGA candidate for April 11
House of Assembly election
at Nnewi South State
Constituency II, said that the
State Governor introduced
the scheme for the 177
communities in the state to
help the people.
She commended the
Governor for the scheme and
called on her people to
continue to give him their
support. She also used the
occasion to appeal to her
people to come out en-masse
to vote for her in the coming
election.
Speaking separately
to our reporter, two women
traders, Mrs. Ann Okoli and
Mrs. Theresa Ndujekwu
thanked Hon. Maduagwu for
her efforts.
4. Knighthood of Order of St.
Gregory the Great: Dr. Obinna
Uzoh, Mr. Nicholas Chikaodinaka
Okonkwo. Engr. Gilbert Ajulu
Uzodike, Barrister Mrs. Angelina
Uzodike, Prof Amobi Ilika.
5. Knighthood of Order of St.
Sylvester: Mr Betrand Ezeani,
Lady Margareth Ezeani,
Mr.Cajethan Onyilimba, Mr.
Innocent Anedo.
Hon. Rita Maduagwu watching as the kerosine is being distributed
Faces of Victory
Contd fron front page
In the Nnewi Federal Constituency, Hon. Chris
Emeka Azubuogu secured fresh mandate to
represent his people at the green chamber for
second time. Azubogu of the PDP scored 44, 747
votes while Emeka Ojukwu of APGA scored 30, 994
votes.
In Aguata Federal Constituency, the PDP
candidate, Mrs. Eucharia Anazodo retained her
seat in the House of Reps while Mr. Obinna
Chidoka of the PDP, former member of the House
of Reps and younger brother of the Minister of
Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka, won the seat in Idemili
North and South Federal Constituency.
A member of the Anambra State House of
Assembly, Hon. Emeka Idu of the PDP won the seat
at Onitsha Federal Constituency just as another
member of the State House of Assembly, Hon.Barr
Gabriel Onyenwife (APGA) won the seat for Oyi
/Ayamelum Federal Constituency.
Another APGA candidate, Barr. Peter
Madubueze, won the seat for Anambra
East/Anambra West Federal Constituency.
In Ihiala Federal Constituency, another
member of the State House of Assembly in
Anambra, Hon. Emeka Anohu, secured the seat
with PDP ticket, while a former member of the
House of Reps, Hon.Wilfred Onyema Chukwuka,
PDP candidate for Ogbaru Federal Constituency,
made a triumphant return after defeating the
incumbent, Hon.Victor Afam Ogene of APC as well
as the speaker of the Anambra State House of
Assembly, Rt. Hon. Princess Chinwe Nwebili
(APGA).
Prince Okey Eze, cousin to Prince Arthur
Eze, won the seat for Anaocha /Njikoka /Dunukofia
Federal Constituency election with PDP ticket; just
as the former speaker of Anambra State House of
Assembly, Rt. Hon. Anayo Nnebe (Ichele Awka)
also won the election in the Awka North/Awka
South Federal Constituency with PDP ticket.
Hon Ben Nwankwo
Orumba North & South ( PDP)
Hon. Obinna Chidoka
Idemili North & South ( PDP)
Rt. Hon. Anayo Nnebe
Awka North & South ( PDP)
Hon. Onyema Chukwuka
Ogbaru Fed. Constituency ( PDP)
Hon. Eucharia Azodo
Aguata Fed. Constituency (PDP)
Hon. Idu Emeka G.
Onitsha North & South (PDP)
CHURCH
THE CHRISTIAN OUTLOOK A
East and West Before the Mystery of Salvation
This is the fifth Lenten homily given this year by the
preacher of the Pontifical Household, Capuchin Father
Raniero Cantalamessa.
With this meditation we conclude our overview of
the common faith of East and West, and we conclude it with
what concerns us more directly, the problem of salvation:
that is, how Orthodoxy and the Latin world have
understood the content of Christian salvation.
This is probably the area in which it is more
necessary for us Latins to turn our gaze to the East to
enrich, and in part to correct, our prevailing way of
conceiving of the redemption accomplished by Christ. We
have the good fortune of doing so in this chapel where the
work of Christ and the mystery of salvation is presented in
the art of Father Marko Rupnik, according to the
understanding that the Eastern Church and Byzantine
iconography has had of it.
Let us start with a presentation of the different way
of understanding salvation by the East and by the West that
is found in the Dictionnaire de Spiritualité and which
synthesizes the prevailing opinion in theological circles:
The goal of life for Greek Christians is divinization,
and for Christians in the West, the attainment of holiness. . .
. The Word became flesh, according to the Greeks, to
restore to man his likeness to God that was lost through
Adam and to divinize him. According to the Latins, he
became man to redeem humanity . . . and to pay the debt
owed to God's justice.[1]
Let us try to find the basis of this difference in
vision and what is true in the way that it is presented.
“was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our
justification” (Rom 4:25). Justification here means not
only the remission of sin but also what is spoken of next in
the text: grace, peace with God, faith, hope, and the love of
God poured into our hearts (see Rom 5:1-5).
As always, in moving from Scripture to the Fathers
of the Church, one notices a diverse reception of these two
aspects. According to the general opinion summarized in
the text quoted above from Bardy, the East has assimilated
the positive aspect of salvation: the deification of man and
the restoration of the image of God. The West has
assimilated the negative aspect: freedom from sin. The
reality is somewhat more complex, so clarifying it cannot
help but facilitate mutual understanding.
Let us try first of all to correct some generalizations
that make the two visions of salvation appear more distant
from each other than they actually are. We cannot be
surprised, if we do not find in the Latin world some
concepts that are central for the Greeks, like “divinization”
and “restoration of the image of God.” They do not appear
as such in the New Testament, which is our only common
source, even if those expressions serve to transmit an
exquisitely biblical mode of understanding salvation. The
very word theosis, divinization, raised concerns because of
its use in pagan discourse and in imperial Roman language
(apotheosis).
The Latins preferred to express the positive effect
of baptism with the Pauline concept of divine sonship.
According to St. John of the Cross, the operations that
happen by nature in the Trinity are accomplished in the
Christian soul through grace.[2] This doctrine is not far
from the Orthodox doctrine of deification, but it is based on
the Johannine affirmation of the indwelling of the Trinity
being incarnate and born of the holy Virgin Mary, you
already remolded and vivified me, freed me from the guilt
of my forefathers, and prepared me to ascend into heaven.
Then, after having created me and made me grow little by
little, you also, in your holy baptism of the new creation,
have renewed me and adorned me with your Holy Spirit.
[6]
Up to this point then, the different theories of
salvation are not as clearly divided between East and West
1. The two aspects of salvation in Scripture
as people would often have us believe. Where the
Already in the prophecies of the Old Testament that
difference is clear and consistent, from the beginning until
announced “the new and eternal covenant”
now, lies instead in the way of understanding original
there are two fundamental aspects: a
and consequently in the primary effect of
St. Symeon the New Theologian writes, By sin
negative aspect that consists in the
baptism. Eastern Christians have never understood
elimination of sin and evil in general and
descending from your lofty sanctuary without original sin in the sense of a truly inherited “guilt”
a positive aspect that consists in the gift
but as the transmission of a wounded nature that is
separating yourself from the bosom of the Father, inclined
of a new heart and a new spirit; in other
to sin, like a progressive loss of the image of
words, destroying the works of man and
and by being incarnate and born of the holy Virgin God in human beings that is due not only to the sin
rebuilding, or restoring, in him the work
Mary, you already remolded and vivified me, freed of Adam but to the sin of all the following
of God. A clear text in this regard is the
me from the guilt of my forefathers, and prepared generations.
following one from Ezekiel:
With the Nicene-Constantinopolitan
me to ascend into heaven. Then, after having symbol, everyone professes “one baptism for the
I will sprinkle clean water upon
you, and you shall be clean from all your
created me and made me grow little by little, you remission of sins,” but for Eastern Christians the
uncleannesses, and from all your idols I
aim of baptism is not to remove original sin
also, in your holy baptism of the new creation, have primary
will cleanse you. A new heart I will give
(it does not have this aim at all for babies) but to free
you, and a new spirit I will put within
renewed me and adorned me with your Holy Spirit. people from the power of sin in general, to restore
you; and I will give you a heart of flesh;
the image of God that was lost and to insert the
and I will take out of your flesh the heart
creature into the new Adam, Christ. This different
of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I
perspective has implications. For example, in the image
will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my (see Jn 14:23).
that one has of the Virgin Mary. In the West, she is seen as
Another observation. It is not completely true that “immaculate” that is, conceived without original sin
statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. (Ez
Orthodox soteriology is summed up in the ontological (macula) right up to the dogmatic definition of that title.
36:25-27)
There is something that God wants to take out of man: vision of divinization and that Western soteriology is In the East, her corresponding title is Panhagia, the Alliniquity, a heart of stone; and there is something he wants summed up by the juridical theory of St. Anselm of the Holy.
to put within man: a new heart, a new spirit. In the New expiation needed due to sin. The idea of sacrifice for sin, of 2. An asymmetrical comparison
Testament both these aspects are evident. From the ransom, of repaying of a debt (even in some cases of a
I do not need to spend much time on the West's way of
beginning of the gospel, John the Baptist presents Jesus as ransom paid to the devil!) is no less present in St.
conceiving the salvation brought by Christ because it is
Athanasius,
St.
Basil,
St.
Gregory
of
Nyssa,
and
Chrysostom
“the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” but
more familiar to us. Let us only say that here we see a
also as the one “who baptizes with the Holy Spirit” (Jn 1: 29, than in their Latin contemporaries. One only needs to
unique paradox. The one who was, through all the span of
consult
a
good
history
of
the
development
of
Christian
33). In the Synoptic Gospels, the aspect of redemption from
Christianity, the cantor of grace par excellence, who better
sin predominates. In them Jesus applies to himself on thought to see that.[3] One text among many is this one by
than anyone highlighted the Christian innovation with
Athanasius
who
is
also
one
of
the
strongest
affirmers
of
the
several occasions the status of the Servant of Yahweh who
regard to the law and the absolute necessity of grace for
takes upon himself and atones for the sins of the people (see theme of divinization:
salvation,
the one who identified such a gift with the Giver
There still remained a debt to pay that was owed by
Is. 52:13–53: 9). In the institution of the Eucharist he
himself,
the
Holy Spirit, is also the one who, due to
speaks of his blood poured out “for the forgiveness of sins” all, because all were condemned to death, and this was the
historical
circumstances,
contributed the most to
principle reason for his coming among us. This is the
(Mt 26:28).
restricting
its
field
of
action.
This aspect is also present in John, tied precisely to reason that, after having revealed his divinity through his
The polemic against the Pelagians drove St.
the theme of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the works, it remained for him to offer a sacrifice for all,
Augustine to highlight first and foremost the role of grace
yielding
the
temple
of
his
body
to
death
for
all.[4]
world. In John's First Letter, Jesus is presented as “the
For these ancient Greek Fathers, the paschal in preserving and healing from sin, the so-called
expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the
prevenient helping and healing grace. His doctrine of
sins of the whole world” (1 Jn 2:2). However, in John the mystery of Christ is still an integral part and a path to
original
sin, as a real hereditary sin that is transmitted
positive aspect is emphasized more. Once the Word was divinization. That is still the case in the later Byzantine era.
during
the
sexual act of generation, caused baptism to be
made flesh, light, truth, eternal life, and the fullness of According to Nicholas Cabasilas, there were two walls that
seen
chiefly
as liberation from original sin.
every grace came into the world (see Jn 1:16). The fruit of blocked communication between God and us: nature and
Neither
Augustine nor others after him ever
sin.
“The
first
was
removed
by
the
Savior
through
his
Jesus' death that receives greater prominence is not the
expiation of sins but the gift of the Spirit (see Jn 7:39; Incarnation and the second was removed through his omitted mention of the other benefits of baptism: divine
sonship, insertion into the body of Christ, the gift of the
crucifixion since the cross destroyed sin.”[5]
19:34).
Holy
Spirit, and so many other magnificent gifts. The fact
In St. Paul we see these two aspects in perfect Only in some cases do we see affirmed at the heart of
remains,
however, that in the manner of administering
balance. In the Letter to the Romans, which we can Orthodoxy the idea of a salvation of the human race
baptism
and
in general opinion, the negative aspect of
consider the first analytical exposition of Christian accomplished at its root through the Incarnation itself of
freedom
from
original sin has always prevailed over the
salvation, he first highlights what Christ came to free us the Word, understood as the assuming not of a single
positive
aspect
of the gift of the Holy Spirit (this last gift
from by his death on the cross (see Rom 3:25): death (see human nature but of the human nature present in every
being
assigned
instead
to the sacrament of confirmation).
Rom 5), sin, (Rom 6), and the law (Rom 7). Then in chapter human being, like a Platonic universal. In one extreme
Still
today,
if
one
asks
an
average Christian what it means
8, he expounds on all the splendor of what Christ has case, divinization comes even before baptism. St. Symeon
to
be
“in
the
grace
of
God”
or to live “in grace,” the answer is
procured for us through his death and resurrection: the the New Theologian writes,
almost certainly “to live without mortal sin on one's
Holy Spirit and with him divine sonship, the love of God,
By descending from your lofty sanctuary without conscience.”
and the certainty of final glorification. The two aspects are separating yourself from the bosom of the Father, and by
Contd on Pg B
present at the very heart of the Kerygma. Jesus, we read,
Church
East and West Before the Mystery of Salvation
Contd from Pg A
This is the inevitable repercussion of all heresies: pushing
theology to focus its attention temporarily on one point of
doctrine at the expense of the whole. It is a normal event
that can be observed at many times in the development of
doctrine. It is what pushed some Alexandrian authors to
the border of Monophysitism in order to oppose
Nestorianism and vice versa. What made the temporary
loss of balance, in Augustine's case, so different and so
long-lasting? The answer is simple: his own unique stature
and authority!
There was someone who came after him who
proposed a different explanation that is closer to that of the
Greeks, John Duns Scotus (1265-1308). The primary
purpose of the Incarnation for him is not redemption from
sin but the summing up of everything in Christ, “in view of
whom everything was created” (see Col 1:15ff). It is the
union in Christ of the divine nature and the human
nature.[7] The Incarnation thus would have occurred even
if Adam had not sinned. Adam's sin only determined the
manner of this recapitulation, making it “redemptive.”
But the voice of Scotus remained isolated, and only
recently has it been reassessed by theologians. The voice
that stood out was another voice, which did not restore the
balance to Augustine's thinking but exacerbated it. I am
speaking of Martin Luther, who had the merit for all
Christians of putting the Word of God, Scripture, back at
the center of everything and above
everything, including the words the Fathers,
which are after all only the words of men.
With him the difference with respect to the
East in understanding salvation becomes
truly radical. In contrast now to the theory of
the divinization of man is the thesis of an
extrinsically imputed righteousness by God
that leaves the baptized person “just and
sinner” at the same time: a sinner in himself,
but justified in the eyes of God.
its very lofty idea of the grandeur and dignity of man as the
image of God, has highlighted the possibility of the
Incarnation, Western doctrine, with its insistence on sin
and the misery of humanity, has highlighted the necessity
of the Incarnation. A later disciple of Augustine, Blaise
Pascal, observed,
Knowledge of God without knowledge of our
misery produces pride. The consciousness of our misery
without consciousness of God produces despair.
Knowledge of Jesus Christ represents the middle way,
because in him we find both God and our misery.[9]
For Augustine, St. Anselm, and Luther, the
insistence on the gravity of sin[10] was a different approach
to having us reach the grandeur of the remedy procured by
Christ. They accentuated “the abundance of sin” in order to
exalt “the superabundance of grace” (see Rom 5:20). In
both cases, the key to everything is the work of Jesus, seen,
so to speak, by the East on the right, and by the West on the
left. The two avenues of pursuit were both legitimate and
necessary. In face of the explosion of “absolute evil” in
World War II, someone remarked that this is what
discounting the bitter truth about human beings had
brought us to, after two centuries of naïve confidence in the
unstoppable progress of man.[11]
Where then is the particular lacuna in our
soteriology, as I was saying, for which we need to look to the
THE CHRISTIAN OUTLOOK B
say that this reality is a chance for the Catholic Church and
for the churches born from the Reformation? I think it is
this: it allows us to restore to Christian salvation the rich
and inspiring positive content summed up in the gift of the
Holy Spirit. The primary goal of Christian life is once again
shown to be, as St. Seraphim of Sarov said, “the acquisition
of the Holy Spirit.”[13] St. John Paul II in a discourse to the
leaders of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in 1998 said,
The Catholic charismatic movement is one of the
many fruits of the Second Vatican Council, which, like a
new Pentecost, led to an extraordinary flourishing in the
Church's life of groups and movements particularly
sensitive to the action of the Spirit. . . . How many lay
faithful—men, women, young people, adults and the
elderly—have been able to experience in their own lives the
amazing power of the Spirit and his gifts! How many people
have rediscovered the faith, the joy of prayer, the power and
beauty of the Word of God, translating all this into generous
service in the Church's mission! How many lives have been
profoundly changed![14]
I am not saying that all the people who are involved
in this “current of grace” are demonstrating all these
characteristics, but I know from experience that all of them,
even the simplest ones, know what it means and aspire to
actualize it in their lives. It gives a different outward picture
of Christian life: it is a joyous, contagious Christianity that
has none of the gloomy pessimism that Nietzsche reproved
it for. Sin is not in the least trivialized because one of the
first effects of the coming of the Paraclete in the heart of a
human being is to “convince the world of sin” (Jn
16.8). I know this because an experience of this
kind brought about my difficult and reluctant
surrender to this grace 38 years ago!
Knowledge of God without
knowledge of our misery produces
pride. The consciousness of our misery
without consciousness of God
produces despair. Knowledge of Jesus
Christ represents the middle way,
because in him we find both God and
our misery.
But let us leave aside this last
development that deserves a separate
discussion. Turning to the comparison
between Orthodoxy and the Catholic
Church, we need to highlight a fact that, in
the eyes of some Orthodox authors, made
our concept of salvation and of Christian life
appear in the past to be different on almost
all points from theirs. It involves a fundamental asymmetry
in the comparison. In the East, theology, spirituality, and
mysticism are united; it does not conceive of a theology that
is not at the same time mystical, that is, experiential. The
reconstruction of the Orthodox position was made by
taking into account theologians like the Cappodocian
Fathers, John of Damascus, Maximus the Confessor, as
well as spiritual movements like the Desert Fathers,
hesychasm, monasticism, Palamism, the Philokalia, and
mystical authors like Symeon the New Theologian,
Seraphim of Sarov, and so forth.
Unfortunately this did not happen in the West
where, especially with the arrival of scholasticism,
mysticism and spirituality, even in teaching, occupied a
position distinct from dogmatics, and mixing the two was
viewed with suspicion. The encounter between the East and
the Latin West would have produced very different results
and many fewer conflicts if people had taken into account
the many spiritual movements and Catholic mystical
writers, in which Christian salvation was not treated as a
theory but lived experientially.
In the three books I already cited[8] that have
contributed the most to familiarizing the West with the
“mystical theology” of the East, only in one are there two
mentions (and both basically negative) of St. John of the
Cross. Yet, he, like so many others in the West, with the
theme of the “dark night,” is in line with the vision of “God
in darkness” of St. Gregory of Nyssa. No mention is made of
Western monasticism, or of St. Francis of Assisi and his
positive and Christocentric spirituality, or of mystical
writings like The Cloud of Unknowing that are in harmony
with the apophatism of Eastern theology. But this, I repeat,
is more our fault than that of the Eastern writers, if we want
to talk about blame. We are the ones who made the harmful
separation between theology and spirituality, and one
cannot ask others to synthesize those two when we
ourselves have not yet tried to do so either.
3. A chance for the West
Let us return to the opinion of Bardy that we started off
with: the East, he says, has a more optimistic and positive
vision of man and salvation, and the West a more
pessimistic one. I would like to show how, in this case as
well, the golden rule in the dialogue between East and West
is not “either/or” but “both/and.” If Eastern doctrine, with
East? It is in the fact that grace, inasmuch as it is exalted,
has ended up in practice being reduced only to its negative
dimension as a remedy for sin. Even the jubilant cry of the
Easter Exultet—“O happy fault that earned so great, so
glorious a Redeemer!”—does not go beyond the negative
perspective of sin and redemption, if we look at it closely.
It is precisely on this point, thanks be to God, that
we have been witnessing a change for a while that we can
call momentous. All the Churches of the West and those or
founded by them, have had for more than a century a
current of grace running through them, the Pentecostal
movement and the different charismatic renewals derived
from it in traditional churches. It is not actually a
movement in the current meaning of that term. It has no
founder, no rule, no spirituality of it own; nor does it
possess a governmental structure, except for coordination
and service. It is exactly a current of grace that must be
diffused through the whole Church, to be dispersed in it the
way an electric discharge is dispersed into a mass, and then
at the end, to disappear as a distinct phenomenon.
It is no longer possible to ignore, or to consider as
marginal, this phenomenon that in more or less profound
ways, has reached hundreds of millions of believers in
Christ from all Christian confessions and tens of millions
just in the Catholic Church. In receiving the leaders of the
charismatic renewal in St. Peter's Basilica for the first time
on May 19, 1975, Paul VI in his address called the renewal “a
chance for the Church and for the world.”
The theologian Yves Congar, in his address to the
International Congress of Pneumatology at the Vatican on
the occasion of the sixteenth centenary of the Ecumenical
Council of Constantinople in 381, speaking of the signs of an
awakening of the Holy Spirit in our era, said this:
How can we avoid situating the so-called
charismatic stream, better known as the Renewal in the
Spirit, here with us? It has spread like a brushfire. It is far
more than a fad. . . . In one primary aspect, it resembles
revival movements from the past: the public and verifiable
character of spiritual action which changes people's lives . . .
It brings youth, a freshness and new possibilities into the
bosom of the old Church, our mother.[12]
What I would like to highlight at this moment is one
specific point: in what sense and under what aspect can one
It is not a question of belonging to this
“movement'—or to any movement—but of
opening oneself to the action of the Holy Spirit in
whatever state one finds oneself. No one has a
monopoly on the Holy Spirit, much less the
Pentecostal and charismatic movement. The
important thing is not to remain outside of the
current of grace that is flowing under different
forms through all of Christianity, to see it as
God's initiative and a chance for the Church and
not as a threat or an outside infiltration into the
Catholic faith.
One thing can ruin this chance, and it
comes, unfortunately, from within. Scripture
affirms the primacy of the sanctifying work of the Spirit
over its charismatic activity. We only need to read
consecutively 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 about the different
charisms and about the more excellent way, which is love. It
would compromise this opportunity if the emphasis on the
charisms, and in the particular on those that are more
visible, would end by prevailing over the effort for an
authentic life “in Christ” and “in the Spirit,” based on the
conformity to Christ and therefore on putting to death the
works of the flesh and on seeking the fruits of the Spirit.
I hope that the next world retreat for clergy, which
will take place in June here in Rome in preparation for the
50thanniversary of the Catholic Church Charismatic
Renewal in 2017, serves to reaffirm this priority forcefully,
while continuing to encourage in every way the exercise of
the charisms that are so useful and necessary, according to
the Second Vatican Council “for the renewal and the
building up of the Church.”[15]
We will leave it to our Orthodox brethren to discern
if this current of grace is intended only for us, the Church in
the West and those that arose from the West, or if, for a
different reason, a new Pentecost is also what Eastern
Christians are in need of. In the meantime, we can do no
less than thank them for having cultivated and tenaciously
defended through the centuries a beautiful and inspiring
ideal of Christian life from which all of Christianity has
benefited, even through the silent instrument of the icon.
I have laid out my reflections of the common faith of the
East and West, having before us in this chapel the image of
the heavenly Jerusalem with Orthodox and Catholic saints
gathered three by three in mixed groups. Let us ask them to
help us realize in the Church here below the same fraternal
communion of love that they live in the heavenly
Jerusalem.
I thank the Holy Father, and you, venerable
Fathers, brothers, and sisters, for your kind attention, and I
wish you all a Happy Easter!
Capuchin Fr. Raneiro Cantalamessa OFM. Cap. is the
preacher of the Pontifical Household. This fifth Lenten
homily was given on Friday March 27, 2015
NEWS
THE CHRISTIAN OUTLOOK C
Easter is the Feast of the New Creation
By Pope Benedict XVI
E
aster is the feast of the new creation. Jesus is
risen and dies no more. He has opened the door
to a new life, one that no longer knows illness
and death. He has taken mankind up into God himself.
“Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”,
as Saint Paul says in the First Letter to the Corinthians
(15:50). On the subject of Christ's resurrection and our
resurrection, the Church writer Tertullian in the third
century was bold enough to write: “Rest assured, flesh
and blood, through Christ you have gained your place
in heaven and in the Kingdom of God” (CCL II, 994). A
new dimension has opened up for mankind. Creation
has become greater and broader. Easter Day ushers in
a new creation, but that is precisely why the Church
starts the liturgy on this day with the old creation, so
that we can learn to understand the new one aright. At
the beginning of the Liturgy of the Word on Easter
night, then, comes the account of the creation of the
world. Two things are particularly important here in
connection with this liturgy. On the one hand, creation
is presented as a
whole that includes
the phenomenon of
time. The seven days
are an image of
completeness,
unfolding in time.
They are ordered
towards the seventh
day, the day of the
freedom of all
creatures for God and
for one another.
Creation is therefore
directed towards the
coming together of
God and his creatures; it exists so as to open up a space
for the response to God's great glory, an encounter
between love and freedom. On the other hand, what
the Church hears on Easter night is above all the first
element of the creation account: “God said, 'let there
be light!'” (Gen 1:3). The creation account begins
symbolically with the creation of light. The sun and the
moon are created only on the fourth day. The creation
account calls them lights, set by God in the firmament
of heaven. In this way he deliberately takes away the
divine character that the great religions had assigned
to them. No, they are not gods. They are shining bodies
created by the one God. But they are preceded by the
light through which God's glory is reflected in the
essence of the created being.
What is the creation account saying here? Light makes
life possible. It makes encounter possible. It makes
communication possible. It makes knowledge, access
to reality and to truth, possible. And insofar as it
makes knowledge possible, it makes freedom and
progress possible. Evil hides. Light, then, is also an
expression of the good that both is and creates
brightness. It is daylight, which makes it possible for
us to act. To say that God created light means that God
created the world as a space for knowledge and truth,
as a space for encounter and freedom, as a space for
good and for love. Matter is fundamentally good, being
itself is good. And evil does not come from God-made
being, rather, it comes into existence only through
denial. It is a “no”.
At Easter, on the morning of the first day of the week,
God said once again: “Let there be light”. The night on
the Mount of Olives, the solar eclipse of Jesus' passion
and death, the night of the grave had all passed. Now
it is the first day once again – creation is beginning
anew. “Let there be light”, says God, “and there was
light”: Jesus rises from the grave. Life is stronger than
death. Good is stronger than evil. Love is stronger
than hate. Truth is stronger than lies. The darkness of
the previous days is driven away the moment Jesus
rises from the grave and himself becomes God's pure
light. But this applies not only to him, not only to the
darkness of those days. With the resurrection of
Jesus, light itself is created anew. He draws all of us
after him into the new light of the resurrection and he
conquers all darkness. He is God's new day, new for
all of us.
But how is this to come about? How does all this affect
us so that instead of remaining word it becomes a
reality that draws us in? Through the sacrament of
baptism and
the profession
of faith, the
Lord has built
a bridge across
to us, through
which the new
day reaches us.
The Lord says
to the newlybaptized: Fiat
lux – let there
be light. God's
new day – the
d a y
o f
indestructible life, comes also to us. Christ takes you
by the hand. From now on you are held by him and
walk with him into the light, into real life. For this
reason the early Church called baptism photismos –
illumination.
Why was this? The darkness that poses a real threat to
mankind, after all, is the fact that he can see and
investigate tangible material things, but cannot see
where the world is going or whence it comes, where
our own life is going, what is good and what is evil. The
darkness enshrouding God and obscuring values is
the real threat to our existence and to the world in
general. If God and moral values, the difference
between good and evil, remain in darkness, then all
other “lights”, that put such incredible technical feats
within our reach, are not only progress but also
dangers that put us and the world at risk. Today we
can illuminate our cities so brightly that the stars of
the sky are no longer visible. Is this not an image of the
problems caused by our version of enlightenment?
With regard to material things, our knowledge and
our technical accomplishments are legion, but what
reaches beyond, the things of God and the question of
good, we can no longer identify. Faith, then, which
reveals God's light to us, is the true enlightenment,
enabling God's light to break into our world, opening
our eyes to the true light.
Dear friends, as I conclude, I would like to add one
With the resurrection of Jesus,
light itself is created anew. He
draws all of us after him into the
new light of the resurrection
and he conquers all darkness.
He is God's new day, new for all
of us.
Pope Benedict XVI
more thought about light and illumination. On
Easter night, the night of the new creation, the
Church presents the mystery of light using a unique
and very humble symbol: the Paschal candle. This is a
light that lives from sacrifice. The candle shines
inasmuch as it is burnt up. It gives light, inasmuch as
it gives itself. Thus the Church presents most
beautifully the paschal mystery of Christ, who gives
himself and so bestows the great light. Secondly, we
should remember that the light of the candle is a fire.
Fire is the power that shapes the world, the force of
transformation. And fire gives warmth. Here too the
mystery of Christ is made newly visible. Christ, the
light, is fire, flame, burning up evil and so reshaping
both the world and ourselves. “Whoever is close to me is
close to the fire,” as Jesus is reported by Origen to have
said. And this fire is both heat and light: not a cold light,
but one through which God's warmth and goodness reach
down to us.
The great hymn of the Exsultet, which the deacon sings at
the beginning of the Easter liturgy, points us quite gently
towards a further aspect. It reminds us that this object, the
candle, has its origin in the work of bees. So the whole of
creation plays its part. In the candle, creation becomes a
bearer of light. But in the mind of the Fathers, the candle
also in some sense contains a silent reference to the
Church. The cooperation of the living community of
believers in the Church in some way resembles the activity
of bees. It builds up the community of light. So the candle
serves as a summons to us to become involved in the
community of the Church, whose raison d'être is to let the
light of Christ shine upon the world.
Let us pray to the Lord at this time that he may grant us to
experience the joy of his light; let us pray that we ourselves
may become bearers of his light, and that through the
Church, Christ's radiant face may enter our world (cf. LG
1). Amen.
Homily of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI given on Holy
Saturday, April 7, 2012 at Saint Peter's Basilica
Go back to Galilee, without fear!
By Pope Francis
T
he Gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ
begins with the journey of the women to the
tomb at dawn on the day after the Sabbath.
They go to the tomb to honour the body of the Lord,
but they find it open and empty. A mighty angel says
to them: “Do not be afraid!” (Mt 28:5) and orders
them to go and tell the disciples: “He has been raised
from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to
Galilee” (v. 7). The women quickly depart and on the
way Jesus himself meets them and says: “Do not fear;
go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will
see me” (v. 10). “Do not be afraid”, “do not fear”: these
are words that encourage us to open our hearts to
receive the message.
After the death of the Master, the disciples had
scattered; their faith had been utterly shaken,
everything seemed over, all their certainties had
crumbled and their hopes had died. But now that
message of the women, incredible as it was, came to
them like a ray of light in the darkness. The news
spread: Jesus is risen as he said. And then there was
his command to go to Galilee; the women had heard it
twice, first from the angel and then from Jesus
himself: “Let them go to Galilee; there they will see
me”. “Do not fear” and “go to Galilee”.
Galilee is the place where they were first called,
where everything began! To return there, to return
to the place where they were originally called. Jesus
had walked along the shores of the lake as the
fishermen were casting their nets. He had called
Contd on Pg D
NEWS
Bridge Head Market Onitsha Boils over
Attempt to Hoist Parallel Union on Traders
THE CHRISTIAN OUTLOOK D
Fortune Magazine Names Pope
Francis 4th "Greatest World Leader"
D
espite Giving Top
Spot to Francis in
Last Year's List of
50, Fortune Felt
Compelled to Include Him
Again
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
Fortune magazine has named
Pope Francis the fourth
greatest leader in the world.
Last year, in the first annual
release of the global business
magazine's rankings of the 50
World's Greatest Leaders, the
Pope was given the number one
spot.
protesting traders
I
n an attempt to coerce
some members of
Bridgehead Market Tools
and Allied Products dealers
Association into another
parallel union order than the
old existing union for the
traders, precipitated peaceful
demonstration that nearly
resulted into mayhem in the
market. The opposition union
alleged to have formed by one
Mr. Peter Okala was said to
have been vehemently rejected
by the members of Tools and
Allied Products Dealers.
S p e a k i n g t o
newsmen at the occasion, the
Vice chairman of the Tools and
Allied Products Dealers Union,
Bridgehead Market, Chief, Sir
Sylvester Ahanonu described
the plan to form factional or
parallel union in the market by
Mr. Peter Okala as an attempt
to cause trouble in their former
union which has been in
existence for over 40 years. He
disclosed that their union
members were being forced to
join the illegal union against
their moral discretion. He
further said that the Traders of
Tools and Allied Products
Dealers were not against any
person wanting to form union
but that it should not be carried
out with the intention to cause
unnecessary division and
trouble!.
Also speaking to the
press, one of the oldest patrons
of the Traders Union, Chief
James Umezuluora
condemned Mr. Okala for
forming a parallel union aimed
at fomenting trouble in the
market.
According to him,
any parallel union to be
formed for the traders must
generate commotion
especially now that the
members of their union were
enjoying very good leadership
from Hon. Emma Anagor and
his lieutenants for some years
after the exit of the opposition
leader, Mr. Okala who has
reportedly lead the union for
seven years. He appealed to
the traders to remain calm and
to avoid any act capable of
causing mayhem in the
market.
Others who spoke in
condemnation of forming an
opposition union in the market
included Mr. Christian
Chinyereugo, Chief Benson
Umeokoli and Mr.
Umeugochukwu. T h e s e
members of the old union
condemned the attitude of Mr.
In its second just
released list, Francis is given
fourth place in the ranking of
the "extraordinary men and
women who are transforming
business, government,
philanthropy, and so much
mo re , "ac c o rd i ng t o t h e
magazine.
Since becoming Pope
in 2013, the magazine said that
the Holy Father, "has been
shaking up the management of
one of the world's largest
bureaucracies: the Roman
Catholic Church."
Chief, Sir Sylvester Ahanonu
Okala to cause disaffection
among the traders who have
been loyal to the incumbent
leadership of the traders. The
present traders leader have
the reputation of rebuilding
the Traders Hall which was
engulfed in fire outbreak
following leadership crisis
that raged in the market about
ten years ago.
They
collectively sent SOS message
to the Anambra State
Government over the attitude
of some disgruntled elements
in the market. Efforts to see
Mr. Okala to comment on the
issue failed.
While noting this earned him
the "top spot" on Fortune's list
of World's Greatest Leaders last
year, the magazine says "his
vision, fortitude, and
commitment to reform were so
extraordinary in 2014 that
we're including him again this
year."
"It is not just that he
has led by example—by now it's
well known that the pope, who
has long championed the
virtues of charity and modesty,
has forgone the traditional
suite in the Apostolic Palace,
opting instead to reside in a
one-bedroom apartment in the
Vatican guesthouse."
"Less known is how
decisive he is in personnel
choices," the magazine
continued, "replacing the
boards of the Vatican Bank and
its main regulatory body with
Go back to Galilee, without fear!
Contd from Pg C
Pope Francis
To return to Galilee means to re-read
everything on the basis of the cross
and its victory, fearlessly: “do not be
afraid”. To re-read everything –
Jesus' preaching, his miracles, the
new community, the excitement and
the defections, even the betrayal – to
re-read everything starting from the
end, which is a new beginning, from
this supreme act of love.
them, and they left everything and followed him (cf.
Mt 4:18-22).
To return to Galilee means to re-read everything on
the basis of the cross and its victory, fearlessly: “do not
be afraid”. To re-read everything – Jesus' preaching,
his miracles, the new community, the excitement and
the defections, even the betrayal – to re-read
everything starting from the end, which is a new
beginning, from this supreme act of love.
For each of us, too, there is a “Galilee” at the origin of
our journey with Jesus. “To go to Galilee” means
something beautiful, it means rediscovering our
baptism as a living fountainhead, drawing new energy
from the sources of our faith and our Christian
experience. To return to Galilee means above all to
return to that blazing light with which God's grace
touched me at the start of the journey. From that
flame I can light a fire for today and every day, and
bring heat and light to my brothers and sisters. That
highly respected businesspeople from around the globe."
made the cover of Rolling Stone
magazine, among others.
Despite perhaps
some pushback, "this pontiff is
not easily conned," it says.
Fortune is a global
business magazine published by
Time Inc. and founded in 1930.
"He gets information on all
important church personnel
and organizations from a
variety of sources" and has
even ensured "operating
budgets are now pruned to
ensure that as much money as
possible can go to charity."
Number one on this year's list is
Apple CEO Tim Cook chosen for
his strong leadership after the
death of Steve Jobs. Number two
is European Central Bank
President Mario Draghi and third
is Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"This, after all, is a
pope who lives his own
lessons," it says.
In the year since his election,
the Pope has been named
Person of the Year by Time, and
Others to make the list
are the Prime Minister of India,
Bill and Melinda Gates, and the
Chief Justice of the United States
Supreme Court, pop singer Taylor
Swift, and Mark Zuckerberg.
Poem
The Easter Glories
and Blessings !
Holy Week and Easter
Vigil Morning Salutes
a New Creation !
Easter glories earth
fills a fresh gracious
humanity
Christ suffered died
and lives our ransom
paid
Jewish Passover fast
and good tidings
dawns, Alleluia !
Paschal Mystery, Death
Conquered, Evermore
Lives in Glory
Christ resurrection
immortal man and
souls saved
Man of Calvary,
suffered, Good Friday
crucified, died, back to
life
Our immortal soul
reigns eternal as ever
young Church grows
Gentile Christians'
Strong Faith Renewed,
Joy Rebounds
Easter customaries and
offerings gloriously
made
Easter joys and eggs
presents children
decorates shown
Happy Easter,
Redeemer liveth, rejoice,
Alleluia!
-Rev. Fr. Dr.
JoeBarth
Chiemeka ABBA
flame ignites a humble joy, a joy which sorrow and
distress cannot dismay, a good, gentle joy.
In the life of every Christian, after baptism there is also
another “Galilee”, a more existential “Galilee”: the
experience of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ
who called me to follow him and to share in his
mission. In this sense, returning to Galilee means
treasuring in my heart the living memory of that call,
when Jesus passed my way, gazed at me with mercy
and asked me to follow him. To return there means
reviving the memory of that moment when his eyes
met mine, the moment when he made me realize that
he loved me.
Today, tonight, each of us can ask: What is my
Galilee? I need to remind myself, to go back and
remember. Where is my Galilee? Do I remember it?
Have I forgotten it? Seek and you will find it! There the
Lord is waiting for you. Have I gone off on roads and
paths which made me forget it? Lord, help me: tell me
what my Galilee is; for you know that I want to return
there to encounter you and to let myself be embraced
by your mercy. Do not be afraid, do not fear, return to
Galilee!
The Gospel is very clear: we need to go back there, to
see Jesus risen, and to become witnesses of his
resurrection. This is not to go back in time; it is not a
kind of nostalgia. It is returning to our first love, in
order to receive the fire which Jesus has kindled in the
world and to bring that fire to all people, to the very
ends of the earth. Go back to Galilee, without fear!
“Galilee of the Gentiles” (Mt 4:15; Is 8:23)! Horizon of
the Risen Lord, horizon of the Church; intense desire
of encounter… Let us be on our way!
Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis given on Holy
Saturday, April 19, 2014 at Saint Peter's Basilica
General Muhammadu Buhari of APC wins 2015 Presidential Election
T
he winner of Nigeria's presidential poll,
Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) party, has hailed his victory as a
vote for change and proof the nation has embraced
democracy. Mr Buhari also praised outgoing President
Goodluck Jonathan of People's Democratic Party
(PDP) as a "worthy opponent" who peacefully
relinquished power.
Gen Buhari beat Mr Jonathan by 15.4 million votes to
12.8 million. APC won in 23 States while PDP defeated
in 13 States and Federal Capital Territory Abuja. Mr
Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party,
has become the first opposition candidate to win a
presidential election in Nigeria.
Nigeria's President-elect, Muhammadu
Buhari, has dedicated his win to Nigerians,
saying they are the ultimate victors.
In a televised speech on Wednesday, April 1, 2015, after
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the chairman of the Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC, Attahiru Jega,
officially declared him the winner of Saturday's
presidential election, Mr. Buhari said “In a more
profound way, it is you, Nigerians that have won.
The people have shown their love for our nation
and their belief in democracy”.
Mr. Buhari said Nigerians have made
history, and that it was the resolve of Nigerians
that made the change they were yearning for
possible.
“The good people of Nigeria, answered the call of
history. When the account of this fine moment is
written, it will be said that it was the people
themselves who led this nation to democracy,” he
said.
“You stood in line patiently for hours in the sun,
rain and then in the dark to cast your ballots. Even
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULT
STATE
PDP
APC
EKITI
176, 466
120, 331
OGUN
207, 950
308,290
ENUGU
553,003
14, 157
KOGI
149, 987
264, 851
OSUN
249, 929
383, 603
ONDO
251, 368
299,889
FCT
157,195
146, 399
OYO
303, 376
528, 620
NASARAWA
273, 460
236, 838
KANO
215, 779
1, 903,999
JIGAWA
142, 904
885, 988
KATSINA
98,937
1, 345, 441
KWARA
132, 602
302, 146
KADUNA
484, 085
1, 127,760
ANAMBRA
660, 762
17, 926
ABIA
368, 303
13, 394
AKWA IBOM
953, 304
58, 411
IMO
559, 185
133, 253
PLATEAU
549, 615
429, 140
EBONYI
323, 653
19, 518
NIGER
149, 222
657, 678
LAGOS
632, 327
792, 460
BAYELSA
361, 209
5, 194
GOMBE
96, 873
361, 245
CROSSRIVERS
414, 863
28, 368
RIVERS
1, 487, 075
69, 238
ADAMAWA
251, 664
374, 701
ZAMFARA
144, 833
612, 202
KEBBI
100, 972
567, 788
BENUE
303, 737
373, 961
BAUCHI
86, 085
931, 598
YOBE
25, 526
446, 265
EDO
286, 869
208, 469
TARABA
310, 800
261, 326
SOKOTO
152, 199
671, 926
DELTA
1, 215,405
48, 910
BORNO
25, 640
473, 543
Total Votes
12,857,152
WINNER
PDP
APC
PDP
APC
APC
APC
PDP
APC
PDP
APC
APC
APC
APC
APC
PDP
PDP
PDP
PDP
PDP
PDP
APC
APC
PDP
APC
PDP
PDP
APC
APC
APC
APC
APC
APC
PDP
PDP
APC
PDP
APC
places, you still performed your civic duty. You
did so peacefully. You voted with your heart.
Your vote affirms that you believe Nigeria's
future can be better than what it is today.
“You voted for change and now change has
come,” he said.
Respect for President Jonathan
Mr. Buhari also confirmed that he received a
call from President Goodluck Jonathan “at
exactly 5:15pm” congratulating him for his
victory.
“For this I want all Nigerians to join me in
congratulating and appreciating Mr President
for his statesmanship,” he said.
He also said Mr. Jonathan engaged in a spirited
campaign and was a worthy opponent.
“I extend my hand of fellowship to him. I look
forward to meeting him soon as we plan the
transition from one administration to another.
He will receive nothing but understanding,
cooperation and respect from me and my team,”
Mr. Buhari said
The president-elect also thanked Nigerians for
putting their faith in him, even as he said the
country has now joined the ranks of those
nations that have used the ballot box to
peacefully change an incumbent President in a
free and fair election.
“To me this is indeed historic,” he said.
Mr. Buhari reiterated his earlier call to all his
supporters to remain peaceful as they go about
their celebrations and not engage those who
never wanted a change.
“Most people will welcome the result because it
is the one they voted for. Others will naturally be
disappointed. I ask that we all be circumspect,
respectful and peaceful in these times,” he said.
He said the electioneering was a hard- fought
contest, adding emotions are presently high.
“We must not allow them to get the better of us.
This is not the time for confrontation. This is a
moment that we must begin to heal the wounds
and work toward a better future.
Commission (INEC), I urge those who may
feel aggrieved to follow due process based
on our constitution and our electoral laws,
in seeking redress.
As I have always affirmed, nobody's
ambition is worth the blood of any
Nigerian. The unity, stability and progress
of our dear country is more important than
anything else.
I congratulate all Nigerians for successfully
going through the process of the March 28th
General Elections with the commendable
enthusiasm and commitment that was
demonstrated nationwide.
I also commend the Security Services for
their role in ensuring that the elections
were mostly peaceful and violence-free.
To my colleagues in the PDP, I thank you
for your support. Today, the PDP should be
celebrating rather than mourning. We have
established a legacy of democratic
freedom, transparency, economic growth
and free and fair elections.
For the past 16 years, we have steered the
country away from ethnic and regional
politics. We created a Pan-Nigerian
political party and brought home to our
people the realities of economic
development and social transformation.
Through patriotism and diligence, we have
built the biggest and most patriotic party in
Nigerian history. We must stand together
as a party and look to the future with
renewed optimism.
I thank all Nigerians once again for the
great opportunity I was given to lead this
country and assure you that I will continue
to do my best at the helm of national affairs
until the end of my tenure.
I have conveyed my personal best wishes to
General Muhammadu Buhari.
May God Almighty continue to bless the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We do this first by extending a hand of
friendship and conciliation across the political
divide. We hope and pray our friends in other
parties reciprocate,” he said.
Mr. Buhari said he will address the nation after
receiving his certificate of return from INEC
possibly Wednesday.
Nigeria Decides 2015: Full text of
President Jonathan's concession speech
on March 31, 2015
I thank you all for turning out en-masse for the
March 28 General Elections.
I promised the country free and fair elections. I
have kept my word. I have also expanded the
space for Nigerians to participate in the
democratic process. That is one legacy I will like
to see endure.
Although some people have expressed mixed
feelings about the results announced by the
Independent National Electoral
15,424,921
A Publication of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, Media House, P.M.B 5099, Nnobi Rd, Nnewi. E-mail: [email protected], www.nnewidiocese.org/ outlook.htm. Adverts:08063831036,
08063979797, 08037991656, 08034749924 . All correspondence to P.M.B 5099, Nnewi, Anambra State. Editor-In-Chief: Rev Fr Anthony Ibegbunam- 08033896978. Editor: Mokwugwo Solomon-

Vol 14 No 10b - Nnewi Catholic Diocese, Anambra

Transcription

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