AN ADDRESS BY HIS GRACE ARCHBISHOP LUCIUS IWEJURU UGORJI ON THE OCCASION OF HIS INSTALLATION AS THE ARCHBISHOP OF OWERRI AT MARIA ASSUMPTA CATHEDRAL OWERRI ON 23 JUNE 2022

On this historic occasion of my installation as the second Metropolitan Archbishop of Owerri, I wish to offer a word of gratitude. As I do so, the words of the Psalmist: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (PS 118:1) spontaneously come to my mind. I am so grateful to God for His unfathomable goodness to me, for providing me more than I can ever imagine and for offering me golden opportunities to serve Him and The Church in different capacities as a priest for 45 years, as the Bishop of Umuahia for 32 years, as the Apostolic Administrator of Ahiara for 4 years, and now as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Owerri. To Him be all the Thanksgiving, praise and adoration forever!

I wish to express my profound appreciation to The Holy Father Pope Francis for appointing me the Metropolitan Archbishop of Owerri, despite my limitations and unworthiness. As I commence my ministry today, I wish to renew my unalloyed loyalty and allegiance to him as the Vicar of Christ and the successor of St Peter.

I am indebted to the Congregation of the Evangelization of the Peoples for facilitating the process of my appointment as Archbishop. Our Apostolic Nuncio Most Rev. Antonio Guido Filipazzi and his staff at the Nunciature in Abuja worked tirelessly to ensure that the rigorous process was successfully brought to a conclusion. For this I am grateful to him and his staff. I am also grateful to him for the profound words he addressed to is in his sermon today.

The Church in Owerri Archdiocese has come a long way since the Irish Holy Ghost Fathers began its Evangelization in 1912 with Emekuku as their first mission. On this occasion I wish to pay warm tributes to these early heralds of The Gospel in our land. I extol their deep faith, fervent zeal and heroic sacrifice. Their pioneering missionary work yielded remarkable fruit in the creation of the Vicarate Apostolic of Owerri in 1948 and the Diocese of Owerri in 1950 with a large territory encompassing the present day Archdiocese of Owerri and the Dioceses of Umuahia, Portharcourt, Orlu, Okigwe, Ahiara and Aba. Our venerable predecessors, Most Rev Joseph Brendan Whelan CSSp (1950 – 1970) and Most Rev. Mark Onwuha Unegbu (1970 – 1993) were her first and second Bishops respectively. Both of them served the Church in Owerri Diocese with absolute self-commitment and self-sacrifice and so deserve our deep appreciation and gratitude. Most Rev. Anthony John Valentine Obinna, the third Bishop of Owerri and the first Metropolitan of Owerri Archdiocese, a visionary, zealous, erudite and self-sacrificing prelate, who led this local church from 1993 – 2022 will go down in the annals of the Church in Owerri Archdiocese and Owerri Ecclesiastical Province as an indefatigable leader, who made numerous contributions towards the rapid growth of the Church in Owerri Archdiocese and the Province. Amarachi, you have done tremendously well, IGBALIALA. After such long and successful ministry in Owerri, you are leaving behind very large shoes to be filled. But thanks to God, as your successor, I have no ambition to step into those big shoes; I am coming with my own customised shoes. We wish you good health, joy and interior peace as you commence your well-deserved retirement as our beloved elder brother and our Archbishop Emeritus.
Very special thanks to Your Eminence, Your Excellencies, the Archbishops and Bishops, who have come from far and near to participate at my installation ceremony. Your presence in large number at this historic event is sacramental in many ways. It manifests the unity of the Church, the brotherhood and collegiality of the Episcopate, and reveals the special love you have for me as your Chief servant. May God bless and reward you for the sacrifice you made to be here.
I would also like to convey our deep gratitude to Your Excellencies of past and present; Deputy Governors, past and present; honourable Ministers, distinguished Senators, prominent Members of the House of Representatives, both Federal and State, Your Royal Highnesses, and other eminent State dignitaries, who have come here to worship with us today and to grace the occasion with their highly esteemed presence. The Church and State serve the same people. In the face of myriads of problems bedevilling our society today, we extend our hands of partnership with government to work for the development of our people, while keeping in mind that there is an intricate relationship between peace and sustainable development. Peace is the bedrock of development. There is no sustainable development without peace. Peace takes root when people are free from hunger, poverty, unemployment, oppression and exploitation. We have to work together to save our people from the prevailing scourge of violence and insecurity that have brought unimaginable grief, trauma and fear to our fellow citizens in the State. Consequently, I call on the gladiators in the State to shield their swords, for violence begets violence. I implore you to turn your swords into ploughshares (Is 2:4).
Rather than engage in senseless conflicts that lead to wanton bloodshed, mutual self-destruction and destruction of property, I urge you to put all squabbles, division and rancour behind for the sake of peace and progress in our State. Please let us join hands to work for the overall welfare of our people.

I warmly greet our highly revered Monsignori, Rev. Fathers, consecrated men and women, and the lay faithful from across Owerri Ecclesiastical Province and beyond. I am very humbled by your presence in large numbers for this installation ceremony. By the spirit of brotherhood, sisterhood and solidarity you have shown by your esteemed presence, you demonstrate vividly that the Church is the Family of God without borders, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave not free, male not female. Irrespective of our place of origin, status or gender, we are one in Christ through our baptism, which binds and bonds us together as members of one family (cf. Gal. 3:28).

On this auspicious occasion, I wish in a special way, to express my closeness to the clergy, consecrated men and women and the lay faithful of Owerri Archdiocese. My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, I come to you as a brother to journey together with you with a listening heart. We shall walk and work together as brothers and sisters in unity and communion, listening attentively to one another, and discerning what the word of God and the Holy Spirit are saying to us. Together, we shall continue to share our rich gift of faith, strengthening and spreading it through catechesis to promote deeper and ongoing conversion among us. Together we shall strive to penetrate the political, economic, social, and cultural spheres of out lives with the spirit of the Gospel and transform our society with Gospel values. Together as Church, we shall strive to be travelling companions with our youths to empower them adequately so that they can participate actively in the life of the Church and State and make their contributions as responsible members.

Together, we shall continue to thank God for the gift of the Church in the Archdiocese of Owerri and its tremendous growth over the years. However, we must acknowledge that it is a gift as well as a great responsibility. For side by side with the phenomenal growth of the Church in the Archdiocese are the rapidly increasing needs experienced in the areas of initial and ongoing formation of priests and other Church personnel and their maintenance, provision of infrastructure and transportation for the ministry and apostolate, catering for sick and ageing members of the clergy, generating resources to look after the poor, the downtrodden and less privileged entrusted to our care. To attend to these problems in a sustainable manner, the Church in the Archdiocese would need to take bold steps towards self-reliance. We shall strive together to achieve this goal.

I greet in a special way, the clergy, religious and laity of the Diocese of Umuahia. It is a happy coincidence that the Diocese of Umuahia, which was created on 23 June 1958 by Pope Pius XII, marks the 64th anniversary of it’s establishment today. Out of that 64 years, I had the unique privilege of being your Bishop for 32 years. I shall always cherish the fact that we bonded so well and strongly together. Thanks immensely for the profound love, unflagging support and fraternal cooperation you gave me as your Chief shepherd. I also thank the clergy, religious and lay faithful of Ahiara Diocese for your great love and cooperation with me as your Apostolic Administrator and for your esteemed presence at this ceremony.

In profound gratitude, my heart reaches out to parents Celestine and Roseline Ugorji for the gift of faith they bequeathed to me and for the integral formation they gave me. I am indebted to other members of my family especially, my siblings, who have come from far and near to support me with their prayers. My younger brother Athanasius longed to be here today but God called him to Himself on Pentecost Sunday. May he rest in peace! I am also grateful to the good people of Naze, my home community, for coming out in large numbers to grace this occasion. I greet you with our traditional slogan: one Naze man at a time!

I cannot end this address without a word of thanks to the Installation Central Planning Committee and Sub Committees composed of the clergy, consecrated men and women and the lay faithful, who were charged with the responsibility of planning and executing every detail relating to this installation ceremony. The Committee members demonstrated an unparalleled dedication to the task that was entrusted to them. Kindly accept my deepest appreciation for a job well done.

To all distinguished guests who have graced this occasion and all who generously supported the Archdiocese in cash and kind, we say thank you for your great sacrifice and wonderful demonstration of solidarity. As the Scripture assured us: “….your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (Mt 6:4)
To all those from other faith who graciously honoured our invitation to unite with us in prayer at this ceremony, I say a big thank you for this wonderful show of love and solidarity. Many of you have traveled long distance and made incalculable sacrifice to be here. As you know love is demonstrated by deeds and your presence here is a clear manifestation of that love. May you receive abundant blessings from God in reward for your generosity! May God lead you all safely to your homes