A Communiqué issued at the
end of the First Plenary
Meeting of the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of
Nigeria (CBCN) at the Catholic Sec-
retariat of Nigeria (CSN) Resource
Centre, Durumi, Abuja, 29 February
to 6 March 2020
- PREAMBLE
We, the Catholic Bishops of Nige-
ria, held our First Plenary Meeting for
the year at the CSN Resource Centre,
Durumi, Abuja, from 29 February to
6 March 2020. Having prayerfully re-
flected on issues affecting the Church
and the Nigerian State, we now issue
this Communiqué.
- THE WORD OF GOD: OUR
TEACHER AND GUIDE
We give thanks to Almighty God,
who has not left us alone, unassisted
as we journey through life. He has in-
stead given us his abiding Word, both
as teacher and guide to salvation. In
Psalm 119:105, we are given a beau-
tiful promise and an eternal truth
that God’s Word will continue to be a
gleaming lamp that will guide our feet
in our journey through the darkness
of this broken world. This promise
holds true in good times but has even a
greater force in challenging times. We
know from the history of our salvation
that God’s people are no stranger to
tribulation. In spite of this, they are
always invited to remain loyal to the
Word of God. We extend the same in-
vitation to all Nigerian Christians in
these difficult times.
- HOLDING FAST TO THE WORD
OF GOD IN DIFFICULT TIMES
As pastors, we call on all Christians
to
hold fast to the Word of God through
diligent sacred reading,
careful study and a coherent applica-
tion to life. We enjoin all Priests, Dea-
cons, Catechists and all other
pastoral agents to be always ready to
share the abundant wealth of the Di-
vine Word with the faithful
committed to them. The special
place of the Word of God, especially in
the sacred liturgy, must be
respected, and when proclaimed,
everyone must listen with rapt atten-
tion and a prayerful disposition.
This must be done in order that none
of us will become “an empty preacher
of the Word of God
outwardly, who is not first and fore-
most a listener to it inwardly” (Dei
Verbum 25). However, in as
much as we encourage the faithful
reading of the Word of God, we urge
our faithful to avoid a selective
citation of the Word of God in a way
that is disconnected from the overall
Christian message of love
and salvation. Holding firmly to our
faith in the Word of God and all the
teachings emanating from it,
by internalizing and living them
faithfully day-by-day, we will not only
be embracing our true identity
as members of Christ’s body, but we
will also be able to evangelize our trou-
bled environment by a
heroic life of witnessing.
- THE WORD OF GOD AND THE
SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE IN
OUR NATION
The Word of God proclaims the God,
who in his sovereignty, conferred dig-
nity on every member of the human
family. The Word of God is the reve-
lation of the Mind and Will of God to
human beings. This Word is also man-
ifested to us through God’s decrees,
ways, precepts, statutes, commands,
ordinances, and promises. One of such
commands is ‘Do not kill’ (Ex 20:13;
Deut. 5:17). We regret that this com-
mandment is highly disobeyed in our
nation today, especially through the
brutal killings of innocent persons by
different categories of terrorists and
criminals. For many, security of life
and
1
property is now only a wish. The cul-
ture of death, which devalues human
life, defaces religion as a force for com-
mon good in our nation. We earnestly
urge our government to do all it legiti-
mately can to root out terrorism com-
pletely. We continue to pray for our
leaders to have the wisdom, courage,
sincerity of purpose and political will
to do what is good and protect and en-
hance the life of every Nigerian, irre-
spective of tribe, religion, or political
affiliation.
- THE WORD OF GOD AND THE
CARE FOR THE EARTH
This year, precisely between 16 and
24 May, the Church celebrates the 5th
Anniversary of the Apostolic Exhorta-
tion of Pope Francis, Laudato si’, On
the Care of our Common Home. The
Holy Father, upholding the vision of
an integral ecology, summons human-
ity to a profound interior conversion, a
renewal of our relationships with God,
one another and the created world. The
Church in Nigeria seeks to contribute
to the global debate on the care of the
environment and develop concrete
plan of action to save our environment
through an International Conference
to be organized and hosted by the
Catholic Institute of West Africa (30
March to 3 April 2020) and the Catho-
lic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria of
the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (24
May 2020). This is in keeping with the
Word of God, which commands us to
be humble stewards of God’s creation
(cf Gen. 1:28; Wis. 11:26).
- EVENTS IN THE CHURCH
Pope Francis with his Apostolic Let-
ter, Aperuit Illis, established the Sun-
day of the Word of God to be celebrat-
ed annually on the Third Sunday of
Ordinary Time. This Sunday focuses
the entire Christ’s faithful on celebrat-
ing, studying and spreading the Word
of God, thereby making the Word part
and parcel of our everyday living. We,
the Catholic Bishops, on behalf of the
people of God, pledge ourselves anew
to the daily reading of the Scriptures
and living by its dictates and injunc-
tions.
From 22-26 October 2019, the
Church in Nigeria had the National
Mission Congress in Benin City with
the theme: “Baptized and Sent: The
Church of God in Nigeria on Mis-
sion”. The Congress focused on ways
that baptized Christians can be more
committed and effective in fulfilling
the obligation to preach the Word of
God in its entirety. As part of the fruits
of mission, the Universal Church pre-
sented 25 persons as models of saint-
hood to the world, two of whom, we
are proud to announce, are Nigerians.
These are: Blessed Michael Iwene Tan-
si and Vivian Ogu. As a Church, we
continue to pray for the canonization
of Blessed Tansi and the beatification
of Vivian Ogu, a 14-year-old girl who
sacrificed her life for the sake of the
gospel rather than gave in to sexual as-
sault by a gang of armed robbers who
wanted to rape her.
We are grateful to God for a number
of developments in the Church since
our last plenary. We thank the Holy
Father for the creation of Ekwulobia
Diocese on this day, 5 March 2020,
and for the appointment of Most Rev
Peter Ebele Okpaleke as its first Bish-
op. We congratulate him and wish him
a successful apostolate. We are indeed
thankful to God for a successful re-
tirement of John Cardinal Onaiyekan
as Metropolitan Archbishop of Abuja
and congratulate Most. Rev. Ignatius
Ayau Kaigama, the new Metropolitan
Archbishop of Abuja. He was installed
at a liturgical ceremony on 5 Decem-
ber 2019. We equally congratulate
Most Rev Matthew Ishaya Audu for
his appointment, by the Holy Father
Pope Francis, as the new Metropolitan
Archbishop of Jos and the Apostolic
Administrator of Lafia Diocese. We
look forward to his Installation on 31
March 2020.
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We continue to thank God for the
appointments and ordinations of Most
Rev. Moses Chikwe as the Auxiliary
Bishop of Owerri Archdiocese, Most.
Rev. Augustine Echema as the Bishop
of Aba Diocese and Most. Rev. Julius
Yakubu Kundi as the Bishop of Kafan-
chan Diocese. May God fructify their
episcopal ministry among the people
of God entrusted to their pastoral care.
We equally congratulate Most Rev.
John Oyejola and the entire faithful of
Osogbo Diocese for the silver jubilee
celebration of the erection of the Dio-
cese. We sympathise with the Diocese
for the loss of a priest and eight young
people in a road accident on their way
back from Oke Maria pilgrimage Cen-
tre, Otan Ayegbaju. While we pray for
their peaceful repose, we also pray for
more abundant blessing on the Bishop
and his people. We commiserate with
Most Rev Matthew Hassan Kukah and
the faithful of Sokoto Diocese for the
loss of their seminarian, Mr. Michael
Nnadi who was gruesomely murdered
by criminals. We condole with the
Good Shepherd Major Seminary Ka-
duna, his grandmother and the imme-
diate family and pray for his eternal
repose.
With sadness in our hearts but grati-
tude to God, we announce the death of
Most. Rev. Peter Adoboh, late Bishop
of Katsina-Ala, on 14 February 2020.
Bishop Adoboh will be buried on 11
March 2020. Our condolences go to
the entire Diocese and his immediate
family. May his soul rest in perfect
peace, Amen. Our prayers are equally
with Most Rev. William Avenya, who
assumes the leadership of the Diocese
as Apostolic Administrator.
- CONCLUSION: LENT AS A
SEASON TO REDISCOVER GOD’S
WORD AS THE WELLSPRING OF
CONSTANT RENEWAL
Behold another golden opportuni-
ty of the season of Lent; a season to
deepen the Word of God in us, and
seek his face anew. As Christians we
are constantly called into a renewed
encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ
in the power of his Word, which is a
lamp to our feet and brings light to our
path. This light dispels darkness, gives
assurance and restores hope. We thank
all the faithful for their good response
in participating in our recent Prayer
Processions for the repose of all who
lost their lives due to the activities of
criminals and other forms of violence
in our country. In the spirit of the
same solidarity, we ask all Parishes and
Dioceses to, on the Fifth Sunday of
Lent, organize an appeal for donations
to assist Catholic Caritas Foundation
of Nigeria to respond to emergencies.
The Lord in his Word invites us Chris-
tians to be people of hope amidst the vi-
cissitudes and vagaries of life, especially
in these trying times. Hope indeed en-
courages us to work for that future we
envisage. In this ambience of creative
hope, we hold on to the Christian prin-
ciple of loving even the enemies and ex-
tending this love beyond confines of eth-
nic and sectional leanings. We invite all
to hearken to the words of St. Paul: “Let
the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, as
in all wisdom you teach and admonish
one another…” (Col. 3:16).
May the Blessed Virgin Mary our
Mother and Patroness continue to inter-
cede for us and our dear country Nige-
ria. Amen.
Most Rev. Augustine Obiora
AKUBEZE President, CBCN
Archbishop of Benin City
Most Rev. Camillus Raymond UMOH
Secretary, CBCN
Bishop of Ikot-Ekpene
