The 16th annual national conference of the Association of Papal Knights and Medalists in Nigeria (APKMN) was held recently at the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Centre, Ikeja, Lagos. The keynote address, titled, “Living an authentic Catholic Life: Challenges and opportunities in contemporary Nigeria,” was delivered by Very Rev. Msgr. (Dr.) Pius Kii, Judicial Vicar of the Catholic Diocese of Port Harcourt. He noted that living an authentic Christian life in Nigeria can be a daunting task, as many local cultures and traditional practices conflict with Christian teachings. Ancestry worship, idolatry, Osu caste system, money ritual and the use of charms for protection are just a few examples of the challenges that Nigerian Christians face. NETA NWOSU, Editor, puts forward key highlights of the address, including overcoming the challenges and leveraging opportunities to deepen faith and promote Catholic values.
The theme
I guess the emphasis on contemporary Nigeria by the framers of this topic, “Living an authentic Catholic life: Challenges and opportunities in contemporary Nigeria,” is etched on the fact that Nigeria today is at crossroad. Things have never been as worse as they are now. This presentation therefore, examines the political, cultural, social, religious and economic context of contemporary Nigeria and how these factors impact living an authentic Catholic life by Christ’s faithful who are called to live a life consonant with the baptismal dignity, and to strive for the perfection of charity” (canons 207). It also discusses strategies for overcoming the challenges and leveraging opportunities to deepen faith and promote Catholic values.
Unpacking the concept: Living an authentic Catholic life
It means very simply, living a life of intimacy with the Godhead and continually nurturing that relationship/intimacy through prayer, sacraments, and scripture. It entails adherence to Catholic doctrines, traditions, moral principles and values and integrating same into work and relationships. It also includes, effective participation in building the life of the Church and the community within which one lives, diffusing love, compassion, acting in solidarity with all people, especially the poor, vulnerable and marginalised and sharing the gospel message with all peoples, inspiring them through words and actions.
The key components of this definition are: Orthodoxy – right belief, orthopraxy -, right practice, spirituality – personal relationship with God, communality – involvement with the community and evangelisation – sharing the gospel. Living an authentic Catholic life is therefore an ensemble of these various dimensions, elements and principles, and integrating them into daily life, to be lived according to canon 207 of the Code of Canon Law “in consonance with our baptismal dignity and to strive for the perfection of charity”
Overview of Nigeria’s political, cultural, economic and religious context
We are all familiar with the Every priest needs to run two parishes – flesh and blood parish, the media and cyber highway parish – Very Rev. Msgr. Kii problems of the country on all fronts and we are also part of the problems of the country in so many ramifications. Generally, we are a people walking in darkness (Isa.9:2; Matt.4:16). Darkness here is a metaphor suggestive for evil, suffering, distress, violence, despair, discouragement, decay, corruption, hubris, or the wrongful use of power and wrong exercise of public responsibilities. The darkness around us is so overwhelming that in some sense, we feel trapped, enslaved, or limited by circumstances.
The poor are getting poorer, and the rich are filthily rich. The way our country is currently structured, it appears that the country is designed to sustain politicians and no one else. Some of us feel too privileged when we are invited by them because of the network of social interactions, the recognition offered and the social importance it confers. We too are part of a great system that perpetuates our advantages overs. For the most part, we do not even notice. The abuses and injustices are corporate. They are part of a system that has been perpetuated from generation to generation.
There has been a particular way of doing government business and living, and this has gone on without any adjustment. The system of oppression and injustice runs almost on its own. It cannot not be stopped unless there is a corporate, systemic, and institutional desire to stop it. That is the real problem with Nigeria. These groundswell within which we live affects in one way or another living authentic Catholic life in Nigeria.
Authentic living: Biblical and philosophical perspectives
Both philosophy and theology take the problem of authenticity seriously. Our Lord addressed the inauthenticity of the Pharisees and how it stood in the way of their own spiritual advancement as well as the heavenly pilgrimage of other serious-minded people. He described their inauthenticity in terms of worshipping God with the lips while their hearts were far from God. He compared their inauthentic lives to whitewashed tombs, decorated with monuments while full of maggot and corruption on the inside. Calling for authentic living, he asked that they wash the inside of the cup first and not concentrate on the outside.
Applying this to the state of Catholic life in Nigeria, the call to authenticity challenges us to acknowledge that our families and communities and institutions are not as beautiful as they may appear from the window-dressings to which we have painstakingly subjected them. The challenge of authentic living is the challenge to face reality in our areas of weakness and make genuine efforts to do better, instead of committing our energies to cosmetic beautifications that lack the integrity to endure the test of time. In existentialist philosophy, authenticity denotes the challenge of upholding the genuine, original, true state of human existence. It goes back to the dictum “man know they self ” of early Greek philosopher Socrates’ and his maxim that “an unexamined life is not worth living”.
It presupposes that in life one can get absorbed and overwhelmed by social pressure to the point of losing oneself and one’s purpose, having a false existence. The biblical and philosophical depictions of inauthenticity epitomise a loss of human freedom and even a trading off of rationality for absolutely in consequential reasons. The gross outcome of inauthentic living is the loss of joy, meaning, value, and happiness not only in personal life but in the society. Inauthentic living is a stumbling block. It stands in the way of the growth of the individual and the society. The collective insight of existentialist philosophers is that authentic living is something fundamental to the individual and the cultural advancement of society, but that it can only be achieved through the personal decision of the individual.
Authentic Christian Living in Nigeria: Challenges and prospects
Living an authentic Catholic life in Nigeria comes with a lot of challenges and opportunities
A. Cultural and societal pressures: Some Nigerian cultures, traditional practices and societal norms conflict with Catholic teachings. In some of our well over 250 cultural/ethnic groups, varying traditional practices such as ancestor worship and idolatry, use of charms and amulets for protection, sacrifice to gods and goddesses, the Osu caste system, the return of the corpse of even a wedded Catholic woman to her natal home for burial at death continues to pose a challenge for the authentic practice of the faith as there are expectations to conform to cultural traditions, even if they conflict with Christian values for fear of ostracism or rejection for adherence to Catholic principles.
There still exists the challenge of polygamy, exorbitant and exploitative bride price, social pressure to participate in traditional festivals and rituals. The feeling of not wanting to be seen as being at odds with the pervasive collective interest can lead to compromise on religious values. There is the societal pressure to prioritise family and community over spiritual values.
There are daily pressures on affluent Catholics to provide financial support to family members, even if it means compromising their own financial integrity, participate in ancestral worship or traditional festivals disregarding biblical principles, that are in conflict with biblical teachings; marry within their cultural or social group, prioritise community harmony over speaking the truth or standing up for justice and family or community expectations leading to compromise on moral issues, such as abortion, divorce or same-sex relationships. In all of these and much more, collectivism can lead to compromise on religious values. As papal knights and medalists the deposit of the faith of the Church has been entrusted to you to defend.
Canon 747 of the Code of Canon Law obligates us:
1. To guard the deposit of faith entrusted to us by Christ our founder and Lord religiously, conserve its entirety and purity in such a way as to avoid any reduction, alteration or change or deformation or mutilation.
2. Contemplate it deeply, proclaim it, expound it, and preach about it.
3. Deepening the meaning: This demands an adequate development, adaptation to the times and people, in full authenticity and fidelity.
4. Proclaiming it, exposing and announcing it: (Matt. 28:19- 2, I Cor. 9:16, Dv.9, I Jn. 2:20 & 27LG. 1)
B. Persecution, violence, and attacks on Catholics, Catholic Churches and institutions
• We live in Nigeria with the darkness of insecurity. Catholics and Catholic institutions in Nigeria face threats from different extremist groups and have actually been the target of many terrorist attacks.
• In a statistics from The Kukah Center, between 2019-2023, 16,769 Christians were killed while 11,185 were abducted. •
These attacks are from:
1. Jihadist groups, like Boko Haram [BH] – an Islamist extremist group seeking to establish an Islamic state; Ansaru – Boko Haram – a splinter group with ties to Al – Qaeda, Islamic State in West Africa [ISWA] – affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS), Al – Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) – an international terrorist organisation with Nigerian affiliates; 2. Banditry and kidnapping groups like Fulani herdsmen, Zamfara bandits, Kaduna kidnappers and other extremist groups. Of course, the Catholic Church has also been the victim of the operations of militant and ethnic militia as well. A new group named lukarawa has just been spotted to be operating in Sokoto and Kebbi states for now. The attacks by these groups have taken many lethal forms like: 1. Terrorist attacks through bombings (suicide, car, or improvised explosive devices), shootings and armed assaults, kidnappings, and hostage – taking, beheadings and executions, arson and destruction of property and infrastructure,
2. Insurgency tactics through guerrilla warfare, ambushes, targeted raids on towns and villages and persons, leading to targeted killings and assassinations, displacement and forced migration,
3. Psychological warfare through propaganda and misinformation campaigns, intimidation and threats, manipulation of religious and ethnic sentiments. These forms of attacks often overlap, and the groups employ multiple tactics to achieve their objectives.
• On account of the fear and insecurity generated, many Catholics, especially the above average Catholics are no longer able to attend morning and evening Masses and Church programmes and are now utilising the Masses and devotions streamed on the media – notably the Oremus on Africa Independent Television, of which I am the producer from the Catholic Diocese of Port – Harcourt, Lumen Christi from the Archdiocese of Lagos, and EWTN on the international plane as well as seasonal messages from the hierarchy of the Nigerian Church, including but not limited to the compact but densely scriptural and theological reflections of the Archbishop of Lagos and Metropolitan of Lagos Province, His Grace, Most Reverend Adewale Martins.
• The question for another day is, do we offer either personal or corporate support for these initiatives? The Oremus for example has been on air for the past eleven years non-stop. It was the brain child of High Chief Raymond Dokpesi and Sir (Dr.) Peter Odili, Commander Knight of St. Gregory the Great, in whose home in Port– Harcourt the idea was birthed, and I was privileged to be handed over the details of its implementation. I have argued at different fora that every Priest needs to run two parishes – flesh and blood parish and the media and cyber highway parish. These initiatives would need the support of your good selves.
C. Politicisation of religion and Pentecostalism
• There is the challenge of using faith for personal gain and the incursion of Pentecostalism into Catholic practices and pattern of prayers and worship.
• Just sketch the theo-political biographies of these men and women who had and have the opportunity to shape the world/ country/state in which we live and what role their love for God played in this shaping, you will be ashamed.
• Our Christian governors and Christian parliamentarians are hiding their Christian identity under the table.
• Their faith and their politics walk on opposing sides of the road without exchanging glances.
• Many of them even speak about their Christian faith and yet their actions in government show an appallingly messy divorce between their Christian faith and their political actions
• They only talk about their Christian identity and faith when they are canvassing for Christian votes to win an election; after they win the election, you have to struggle to gather the evidence of their love for God from the crumbs under the political table.
• After elections they hide their Christian identity under a bushel and then will tell you that Church and State are separate, and that government funds cannot be used to assist Christian projects and programmes.
• If it is so, why do they come to canvass for Christian votes?
• It is only Christians leaders who are upholding the tenets of separation of Church and State.
• That would never be the agenda of Muslims. For them their religion and State are one.
• Muslim politicians at all levels, use their positions to propagate Islam.
• It is Angella Merkel, the German chancellor that said, the problem of the world is not too much Islam but too little practice of Christianity.
• On the other side of the pendulum is the aggressive incursion of Pentecostalism with the prosperity gospel that emphasises wealth and success over spiritual growth.
• We all know the pervasive influence of Pentecostalism on Catholicism today. The emphasis on faith alone that runs contrary to our emphasis on faith and works (James 2:14-26), the rejection on minimalisation of the sacraments, there rejection of hierarchical authority, veneration of Mary and the Saints, emphasis on emotionalism over rational faith, prioritisation of speaking in tongues which may not be universally experienced or understood (1Cor. 12: 10, 14:22- 23), faith healing, potentially leading to unrealistic expectations or neglect on medical care and prosperity gospel contradicting Catholic teachings on simplicity on detachment, emphasis on individual experiences which leads fragmentation and division etc are flash points.
• The issue for me additionally, beyond the damage they do beyond the fence, is how do we manage those with Pentecostal tendencies in our Church today? How do we manage the diversity of talents knowing that the Holy Spirit can sometimes work outside the established framework of the Magisterium?
• There are obvious cases of gifted lay men and women with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including but not limited to the gift of healing. The challenge of managing these gifts and domesticating them within the Church has posed a significant challenge.
• May we recall the incident in Number 11:26-30 where the Spirit of God came upon Eldad and Meldad who were not part of the seventy elders over which Moses was praying outside the tent of meeting. One can say there was the Spillage of the Holy Spirit, because they were not enlisted among those who were to receive the spirit. Therefore, knowing that God’s Spirit can work through anyone, regardless of position or location, how do we manage such a “Spillage of the Holy Spirit” without further breakaway from the Catholic Church that results into the establishment of new Pentecostal Churches.
