…As Lagos Archdiocese bids Fr. Bello farewell
Catholic priests have been called upon to handle and cultivate a high sense of duty as they go about their daily ministry, just as they are tasked to ensure that Mass and other liturgical celebrations of the Church are done exactly as laid down by the Holy Mother Church. The charge was given by Rt. Rev. Msgr. John Aniagwu, Vicar General, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, while delivering the homily, during the Funeral Mass for late Very Rev. Fr. Benjamin Bello, held at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos. Listing the various parishes and institutions, including the chancery where Fr. Bello worked with Anthony Cardinal Okogie, Emeritus Archbishop of Lagos, Msgr. Aniagwu noted that the deceased priest had touched a great number of lives and contributed to the growth of the universal Church. Msgr. Aniagwu disclosed that Fr. Bello was a serious minded and conscientious priest who took his priestly life so seriously, that people who were not close to him might have seen him from a distant as unapproachable. According to him, “In fact, he was anything but aloof and unapproachable. When you get close to him, you discover that he was quite friendly. He had a rare sense of humour. He could make you laugh without smiling himself. “Fr. Bello had a profound sense of duty. If anything had to be done, he did it with the utmost diligence.
For instance, he was always the first person to arrive at the venue of our annual priests retreat. During Mass, he was always the first person to approach the altar for Holy Communion. He attended all our priests’ quarterly recollections and seminars religiously and punctually.” The Vicar General revealed that Fr. Bello was an erudite scholar who specialised in Sacred Liturgy where he earned a doctorate degree in 1968, and probably the first Nigerian to achieve that distinction. He said as an expert and purist in liturgical matters, Fr. Bello always demanded that things be done exactly as described by the Holy Mother Church. He said: “He was irritated by many of the innovations and aberrations that some people, mostly priests have been bringing into the liturgy that many of us in the Church have come to take for granted. “I believe Fr. Bello must have been mortified at seeing the many aberrations being introduced into our liturgy by a growing number of priests.”
Stating that the innovations and aberrations have no place in the liturgy of the Catholic Church, Msgr. Aniagwu added that many lay faithful have complained that they are not sure whether it is a Catholic Mass they are attending or an imitation of Pentecostal service or revival in their parishes. He said: “The Mass does not belong to any of us priests. It belongs to the Church; everyone in the Church. We are only servants of the Church and of the liturgy. Consequently, no priest has any right to convert the Mass to a self-serving theatrical display of any kind. The same thing goes for the other liturgical celebrations of the Church.” The Vicar General commiserated with the deceased’s immediate family, as he thanked the clergy and parishioners of St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos for taking care of the late Fr. Bello during his years of retirement in the Parish.
