Very Rev. Fr. Michael Umoh, National Director, Social Communications, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja has enjoined the Catholic Church to evolve policies and structures to enable aged priests at retirement live within parish communities at their convenience. The National Director of Social Communications made this assertion while delivering his homily at Very Rev. Msgr. Bernard Ayodele Okodua’s 80th birthday Thanksgiving Mass held recently at St. Anthony Catholic Church, Gbaja, Surulere, Lagos. He said, “Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins has already shown and taught us a cultural approach to retirement of priests by his policy and actions; that we all must be patient and loving to our priests in their old age and not chase them away. “
If in our experience, when the lay people retire, they rely on the parish community for strength and meaning, why do we now think a retired priest should be comfortable outside the parish community, away from the people he has always lived with and worked for? The time is ripe for us to put policies and structures in place so that priests will not begin to panic at old age about their welfare. “As individuals and organisations in the Church, now is the time to support the Archdiocese in providing suitable facilities for our priests so that they can live within parish communities in their retirement.” Prior to these remarks he had commended Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Matins, Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos for his initiatives towards care of the elderly priests. “
As part of the fruit of this effort, one must not fail to thank our Archbishop for his commitment and ingenuity evident in the on-going building of a priests’ house within St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland parish compound. Ingenuity because, with a vibrant parish community, presence of the Marian Shrine, the hospital, schools and a convent, Maryland compound, in my humble opinion is a naturally suitable place for priests at retirement. “It is the African model, because we do not push our elders away from the family, instead we keep them with us, in appreciation of their work when they were young and feeble, and in order to keep tapping from their wealth of experience and wisdom, which is their prerogative from God.”
Besides, the Archdiocesan provision of a dedicated house for the retired and aged priest to live, Fr. Umoh advocated for retired priests to have the privilege of making a choice to live in dedicated houses in parish communities they are at home with. He said, “I don’t think it is out of place to allow a retired priest the choice of living in any parish house in the Archdiocese, with any priest he feels most comfortable with, with a possibility of moving whenever he desires and it is possible. The Fr. Adebayo/Msgr. Adeniyi model is still fresh in our memories. May God rest their loving souls. Amen.” Very Rev. Fr. Umoh however noted that the issue of managing priests at old age or retirement has become imperative based on the fact that the Church in Nigeria coupled with the Archdiocese is really growing. According to him, the number of priests has grown astronomically over the years, thus as expected, the number of elderly priests is on the increase as more of the priests are clocking the retirement age.
He recalled Pope Francis’ powerful phrase ‘Throwaway culture’ to challenge the neglect of the elderly. “In his Encyclical about caring for creation, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis warned us against the throwaway consumerist culture that, he affirmed, is damaging our planet and also infecting the way we treat each other. He observed that for older people this is especially dangerous because our relationship to the aged has significantly and negatively changed over the last century or so and as we come more and more to value people by what they can produce in economic terms, we value less and less both their innate worthiness as children of God, but also we come not to see them as whole human beings, but rather broken down, useless parts which are no longer needed in the capitalist mill.”
Fr. Umoh posited that Pope Francis’ description properly fits the ugly scenario of our secular society in Nigeria where many of our elderly ones suffer and die of hunger and pains after retirement because few individuals embezzled money due to them and those in government care less about what happens to them. “It is said that the true value of a society lies in the way the vulnerable are treated; the elderly and the retired ones included. The Church must show the way. “The Church reminds us that it is not just care and respect that older people need, but that their autonomy, gifts, self-determination and participation in society should not be taken away simply because of age,” he added. The Social Communications expert went on to reflect on the statements of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI’s. “In his 1984 Address to Older People, Pope John Paul II said, ‘you are not and must not consider yourselves to be on the margins of the life of the Church, passive elements in a world in excessive motion, but active subjects of a period in human existence which is rich in spirituality and humanity. You still have a mission to fulfill and a contribution to make.’ “
Similarly, Pope Benedict XVI referred to the growing population of elderly in the world as “a blessing for society.” He said that their care should be more a “repayment of a debt of gratitude” than a mere “act of generosity.” “The above quotations should serve as foundations for determining how best to manage the life of an old or retiring priest.” Congratulating Very Rev. Msgr. Okodua on his 80th birthday he described him as “a faithful, loving, simple, committed, obedient and prayerful priest; a quintessential Catholic priest,” as he also thanked God for the many lives He has used Msgr. to touch and for many hopes he has re-enkindled. Speaking further, Fr. Umoh said, “We thank God for His protection over Msgr. all these years he had to travel on our dangerous road, without an accident; particularly while he worked at the Catholic Secretariat as the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies. “Obviously, Msgr. has enjoyed the grace of good health from God, as one of those specially created strong like a German. Msgr. still spends hours in office today, attending to people, and enjoys attending meetings.”
He shared a memorable experience with Msgr. Okodua, “However, when I knew things were changing for Msgr. was when I witnessed him taking tea without sugar. Kilode??? At over 70years, Msgr. was still fond of garnishing his tea with heaps of sugar; but no more now. Msgr. has surely been blessed, because at 80, apart from his hair which he has been losing very slowly and systematically for decades, his teeth are still largely intact, his eyes and ears functional, he still walks majestically like a Roman soldier, and above all, his mind is still sound. May God’s name be praised. It is grace! “Nevertheless, no matter how strong Msgr.still feels, the fact we must come to terms with is that things are no longer the same. This is a reality we must accept and he must embrace with grace and gratitude. Aging is inevitable and reserved only for the lucky ones.”
On a final note, he felicitated with Msgr. Okodua on his 80th birthday, “Once again, our dear Baba, Msgr. Bernard Ayodele Okodua, on behalf of all of us here and many more not here, I say congratulations to you as you attain this significant milestone in your life. Thank you for all your dedicated services in the people of God and the Church, for your unwavering faith and commitment, and for the inspiration you have been to different people. I join others to pray that God will continue to grant you sound health of mind and body as you continue steadily to grow gracefully. May your night be better than your day.” He prayed.
