…Holds maiden edition of Family Day seminar
In a bid to promote family values and build a morally upright society, free of all forms of immoral and negative influences, the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos held its 2022 seminar on family, on Saturday, December 3, at St. Leo Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos. The event organised by the Lagos Archdiocese Laity Council (LALC), themed, “Moral decadence in the society: The way forward” was attended by various groups in the Church, as it featured a debate between the Catholic Men Organisation and the Catholic Women Organisation with the topic, “Moral decadence in the society: Who is to blame; father or mother?” Making remarks on the occasion, Rt. Rev. Msgr. John Aniagwu, Vicar General, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos and representative of Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos congratulated the council for the event, which he said was a wonderful addition to its programme of activities. He said: “In the secular world, the family is described as a nucleus in the society. In the Church, we say that the family is the domestic Church. On both counts, if the family is in trouble, the family is diseased; we have a very big problem indeed. “From our basic science study, if anything goes wrong with the nucleus in a cell, that cell will be in very big trouble. Similarly, if anything goes wrong in the domestic Church, then the wider Church from the local Church to the universal Church will also be in a big problem. So, it is important that we have healthy families; families that are morally upright for the society to be healthy and for the Church to be alive and well.”
Also speaking on the occasion, Rev, Fr. Hycinth Ibe, Director, Lay Apostolate and Chaplain, LALC, said that the programme was fashioned in such a way that clearly points to the family, where formation, as well as the challenges of the people and Church begin from. He said: “If we get it wrong in the family, then definitely every other institution will be affected, even the Church. That is why we have chosen the particular theme that we have for this year’s Family Day. Fr. Ibe disclosed that the council will try as much as possible to push whatever is gained from the programme down to the various groups and societies, as well as the deaneries and parishes. “We want to see how we can begin from within the Church to form families in such a way that we will have some impact on the society around us and gradually begin to make our country a better place, a place where values are appreciated and vices are discarded and expunged”, he said. In his welcome address, Mr. Ugonna Ezeifedi, Chairman, LALC said the Family Day programme has come to stay, as he disclosed that the council saw it as a way to bring people together and pass information on to families. Stating that families are under attack, he lamented on the increasing rate of divorce and domestic violence in the society, as he added that something must be done to curb the risk of transmitting these things from one generation to another. He thanked His Grace, the Archbishop for giving his approval when the programme was presented to him. “He didn’t waste time to give us approval for this programme. We thank all for honouring the invitation at such short notice”, he said. Mr. Pat Igboko, guest speaker and lecturer on the occasion urged parents to bring their children and wards up properly by teaching them good morals at home. Calling for the reintroduction of moral education in schools, Mr. Igboko urged government and the relevant agencies to regulate the information that the media put forward to the young people.