The Catholic Bishop of Katsina-Ala, Most Rev. Isaac Bunde Dugu has cautioned Catholic Priests in Nigeria against elevating themselves during the Eucharistic celebration, and reminded them that the celebration is not the Priest’s achievement.
“The action of the celebration does not belong to the individual but to the church of Christ, the liturgy does not say, ‘I’ but ‘we’ which is the church of Christ.”
Bishop Dugu stated this as part of his his homily on Monday, October 2 at a Marian pilgrimage in Se Sugh U Maria Pilgrimage Centre, Ayati, Makurdi, where he urged members of the Clergy in Nigeria to always strive to be humble and pure.
“The ordained ministers must realize that fidelity to God and the Church’s tradition is inseparably woven in their priestly identity. They must strive to remain the ‘priests of God for the people of God’ and not the ‘priests of the people for God,’” he said.
The Local Ordinary of Katsina-Ala further called on the Laity to desist from mounting undue pressure or making unnecessary demands from their priests, just to satisfy their spiritual yearnings, and admonished them to do their part as laity by encouraging their Priests through prayers, to be faithful to their calling.
Reacting to the rise of “self-ordained men and women” allegedly blessing water and giving it out to others, who are in search of spiritual favors, Bishop Dugu condemned the trend and described it as “demonic” and “alarming”.
