By CSN Media
The day started with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which was followed by the Holy Mass with Most Rev. Joseph Ekuwem, the Archbishop of Calabar Archdiocese, as the Chief Celebrant.
In his homily, the Archbishop called on the faithful to allow God to guide their choices in life, stressing that divine direction brings peace and fulfillment. He urged Christians to surrender their will to God’s, especially in matters of vocation, career, and personal endeavors.
The main programme for the day was the meeting of the Bishops with the Nigerian Conference of Major Superiors. During the session, there were presentations by the President of Conference, Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, Rev. Fr. Christianus Agwaraonye, CSSP, and Most Rev. Jonas Benson.
In his presentation, Archbishop Ugorji thanked the Major Superiors for their collaboration with the Bishops in the dioceses of their apostolate. He spoke on 3 major areas: the challenge of private ministries on Religious life and Diocesan ministry in Nigeria; fostering good relation and closer cooperation between Bishops and major superiors in Nigeria; and missionary formation and statistics of Nigerian missionaries.
In his own intervention, Fr. Agwaraonye addressed the gathering on the challenges of personal ministries on Religious life and Diocesan ministry in Nigeria. In his paper, the Superior of the Spiritans Congregation highlighted several challenges posed by personal ministries to the Church and recommended some way forward.
Bishop Jonas Benson delivered his paper on the same topic with Fr, Agwaraonye where he touched on the causes of proliferation of praying ministries in the Catholic Church; devastating effects of private ministries on the faith of the people and the orthodoxy and unity of the church. Not only did Bishop Benson mention names of some private ministries in the country, but he also stated some effects which include: exploitation & fake miracles, crisis of faith, departure from Church teachings, financial & emotional harm, delays in medical treatment, and many more.
The papers were followed later with an open interactive session where both the Bishops and Religious superiors shared openly on how to work collaboratively for the advancement of the kingdom. The session came to a close with an unanimous resolution to produce a position paper to guide these matters and the mode of interactions between Religious Congregations and Dioceses.
