By Fr. Michael Nsikak Umoh
After their arrival on the evening of Thursday 23 August, 2024, the bishops began the new day, Friday, with the Exposition and Adoration of the blessed sacrament, followed by the Holy Mass and Lauds.
The Chief Celebrant at the Mass was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Benin, Most Rev. Augustine Obiora Akubeze.
In his homily, the Archbishop urged his fellow bishops and the priests to embrace simplicity of life as a powerful testament to their faith and love of God and neighbour.
After breakfast, the bishops had a meeting with representatives of the Nigeria Catholic Diocesan Priests Association (NCDPA). In his address, the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, thanked all the priests present and by extension, all priests back at home, as the closest collaborators with the bishops, for their labour of love in the different nooks and crannies of the country. He also especially thanked those priests working in very tough terrains and invoked God’s blessings on all of them.
The Archbishop raised two major concerns to the priests: the problem of priests in private ministries whom he stated were mostly too distracted from their primary duties as pastors; and the challenges of social media abuse among priests, which was a source of scandal nd embarrassment to the Church. He urged for a change of attitude.
Furthermore, the session also witnessed a seminar on “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Its Implications for Pastoral Ministry in an Emerging Church: Prospects and Challenges”. The papers were given by Rev. Fr. Oseabulu H. Odenore and Most Rev. Godfrey Onah.
These were followed by an interactive session and a workshop, which ended with some propositions presented to the Conference for final decisions. The day came to a close with the evening prayer.
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