New diocese, new bishop must foster unity in Wukari, Nuncio insists

By Fr. Michael Nsikak Umoh

The Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria was again in his element at the ceremony of the creation of the new diocese of Wukari in Taraba State and the ordination and installation of its new bishop today 13 April, 2023, as he pointedly challenged the clergy and people of God to shun all manner of divisiveness but promote unity in the Church and community.

Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi noted that the new Bishop of Wukari diocese, Most Rev. Mark Maigida Nzukwein, has a heavy task in his hands to ensure that he is not just a shepherd to the flock placed under him, but also as “pontifex”, he becomes a bridge of unity to the different tribes in the locality who have been engaged in ugly rivalries that have cost many precious lives including that of Rev. Fr. David Tanko.

The homilist and principal consecrator stated that the people would be rejoicing for the wrong reasons “if the creation of a new diocese and a new bishop here in Wukari were meant to confirm and even increase the divisions and oppositions that already exist between different ethnic groups or localities.” He affirmed that “the Holy Father establishes new local Churches so that the Gospel can reach everyone and all can meet the risen and living Lord Jesus and be saved through the work of the Church, the family of God, without borders or barriers.”

Thus, the Archbishop instructed the people that “The Pope has also made this decision so that the Catholics of the new diocese may be a factor of concord, collaboration and peace in the society in which they live. “We understand the particular mission entrusted to our brother Mark as the first Bishop of Wukari. Like all Bishops, he must be “the visible principle and foundation of unity” (LG 23) of his Church. But, as Pope Francis emphasised, “the Bishop does not gather the people around his person or his ideas but around Christ present in his Word and in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood. “Thus, the Bishop, conformed to Christ, becomes a living Gospel, he becomes bread broken for the life of many by his preaching and his witness” (Address, 5 March 2015). “To do this, among other things, the new Bishop will have to counteract those factors which tend to disrupt the unity of the Church and social harmony, especially that mentality which makes one’s ethnic group and place the first and fundamental criterion of thought and action, even to the point of violating God’s law and the life and dignity of other human beings,” he exhorted.The Italian born ecclesiastic and diplomat went further to specifically address Bishop Nzukwein in the following words: “Dear new Bishop, today you receive the fullness of Christ’s priesthood and become “Pontifex”, that is, one who builds bridges. You must first build bridges between God and each person, and then build bridges that unite people of all ethnicities, backgrounds, social positions and political ideas. May your ministry always serve unity and peace within and outside the Church.” Furthermore, the apostolic Nuncio also used the occasion to condemn the sacrilegious murder of Rev. David Tanko, a priest who worked to reconcile Tiv and Jukum people and prayed for the repose of his soul, while challenging the new Bishop to “tirelessly preach the conversion of mind, heart and behaviour, which, even after Baptism, has not yet been fully achieved” as well as work for unity and concord in cordial collaboration with the civil authorities and traditional leaders. He averred that “Without this renewal of mentality according to the Gospel, having another diocese in Nigeria would be useless!”