EPISCOPAL ORDINATION SIGNALS SPRING TIME IN AHIARA DIOCESE, ARCHBISHOP UGORJI ADVOCATES FOR UNITY AND LASTING PEACE
By Padre Michael Nsikak Umoh, CSN
The Metropolitan Archbishop of Owerri, who is also the Apostolic Administrator sede vacante of Ahiara Diocese and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji has congratulated the newly ordained Auxiliary Bishop, Most Rev. Simeon Okezuo Nwaobi, while charging the clergy and people of God in Ahiara diocese to eschew divisiveness, bitterness and rancour and instead, work for unity and peace for the good and progress of the diocese and the Church generally.
The outstanding Nigerian ecclesiastic made this appeal on the occasion of the historic episcopal ordination of the Auxiliary Bishop of Ahiara, where he was the principal consecrator, held at the Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral, Ahiara, Imo State, Nigeria on 19 December 2023. He noted that, โtoday marks the first time ever a bishop is ordained on the hallowed soil of Ahiara Diocese.โ
Brimming with joy and gratitude to God for the positive turn of events in the diocese where he had been on a mission of peace for five years, starting from while he was then the Bishop of Umuahia, Archbishop Ugorji pointedly stated:
โThe ordination of Bishop Simeon Nwobi is the greatest fruit of the spring time in the Diocese of Ahiara, inaugurated when I began my mission of peace in Ahiara Diocese Five Years ago.ย I have no doubt that the Consecration today of Bishop Simeon Nwobi will completely heal the wounds of division.
โThere should be no more rancour, distrust or bitterness. There should be no more resentful words, or inflicting of wounds. This is the time to turn your swords into ploughshares and your spears into pruning hooks (cf. Is 2: 4). This is indeed the time to deepen the bonds of unity completely, burying past animosities and painful memories in order to advance the cause of the Gospel.
โThis is the time to foster the spirit of mutual love, understanding, trust, and cooperation. I encourage you to unite in heart and mind with St Paul when he said: โForgetting those things which are behind and reaching for those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of high calling in Christ Jesusโ (Phil. 3: 13-14).โ
It is in the light of โall his concerted efforts at bringing peace to Ahiara Dioceseโ that Archbishop Ugorji expressed special gratitude to the Holy Father whom he described โas a father with a golden heart for peace and reconciliation.โ
โIn all the measures he took during the long-drawn crisis, Pope Francis stood tall as a father with a golden heart for peace and reconciliation โฆ During the dark days of the turbulent succession crisis, he sent the Ghana-born Peter Appiah Cardinal Turkson twice to Ahiara Diocese on a mission of peace โฆ. He also invited representatives of the clergy, religious and laity of Ahiara Diocese to a peace meeting with him at the Vatican. Finally, as a compassionate father, he granted pardon to all who were responsible for the crisis. As we thank him today for his fatherly love, we reassure him of our unwavering allegiance, filial loyalty, constant prayers and spiritual closeness.โ
ย The Apostolic Administrator of Ahiara diocese went further to congratulate his Auxiliary Bishop, Most Rev. Simeon Nwobi, wishing him a fruitful episcopal ministry while also welcoming him into the College of Bishops in the Nigerian Conference. Taking a deft administrative move, he immediately appointed Bishop Nwobi as his Vicar General, while singing the Nunc Dimitis of a mission accomplished as well as invoking the mantra of John the Baptist for Bishop Nwoke to increase in Ahaira diocese, while he decreases: โI am glad to hereby appoint you my Vicar General to help me in taking care of administrative and pastoral matters in Ahiara Diocese,โ he pronounced.
ย Archbishop Ugorji acknowledged the support and solidarity he enjoyed from the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, from the immediate past Apostolic Nuncio, Most Rev. Antonio Guido Filipazzi, from the Charge dโ Affairs i.a. in the Nunciature, Msgr. Carlo Maria Donati, and from his brother bishops of the Conference in Nigeria and also for their presence at the ordination, in their numbers.
While profoundly thanking the govenrment of Imo State for supporting the planning of the ordination ceremony, Archbishop Ugorji did not fail to condemn the growing nepotism, discrimination and lack of inclusiveness in appointments into public office, especially at the Federal level, which has been a great cause for so much division in the country. โNepotism, sectionalism and exclusionism seem to have been elevated to national policies at the expense of national unity and cohesion. This is condemnable.โ
Concerned also about the ugly instances of divisive practices in the church, like tribalism, the Archbishop also beamed the searchlight on the Church, charging it in strong terms to live up to its calling, so as to provide a credible model to the world.
โThe Church in Nigeria must stand up to counter this unhealthy development by witnessing to its true nature as a Church that is a universal communion open to all; a Church that is not restricted to a particular people or clan, but one embracing all peoples, irrespective of tongue or ethnic background. We should live to our true nature as a Church with a mission to unite all peoples into one family of God.
โThe Fathers of the first African Synod, in promoting the image of the Church as the Family of God, urged us to uphold the unity and โonenessโ of Godโs children. It is this โonenessโ that Pope Francis underscored in his third Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti and has fervently pleaded with humankind all over the world for a renewed commitment to universal brotherhood that transcends the divisions created by tribe, ethnicity, clan and tongue.
โAs children of God belonging to a single human family under God the Father of all, we must embrace a culture of inclusiveness, rooted in Christ, in whom there is neither Jew nor Gentile (cf. Gal. 3:28), and shun anything that divides us or brings discrimination among us.
โIf within our ecclesial communities, religious congregations and Church organisations, there is any form of nepotism or discrimination, we shall be grossly failing as a Church with a mission to unite all nations. We must, therefore, shun ethnocentrism, clannishness and nepotism in the Church and in our nation,โ he concluded.
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