Catholic Priest Urges Nigeria’s Veritas University Staff to Illuminate Society with Faith and Knowledge

Abuja, 25 September, 2025 / 2:17 AM

Catholic universities are “cities on a hill” and “lamps mounted on lampstands,” providing moral and intellectual guidance amid global cultural decline, Fr. George Ehusani has said at the opening of the staff retreat of Veritas University Abuja in Nigeria.

In his homily during the function, Fr. Ehusani outlined the unique identity and mission of the Catholic University and called its staff to embrace their dual role of academic excellence and faith formation.

The celebration also marked the start of the new academic year, themed “Building the Veritas University of our Dream.”

“The Catholic University gives light to the whole community, exposing the darkness of error with the light of truth; dislodging the midnight of ignorance with the searchlight of knowledge; and banishing the shadows of cultural degeneration and ideological confusion, with the luminosity of that wisdom which comes from the skilful integration and creative intersection of faith and reason,” he said during the Monday September 22 Eucharistic celebration.

From left - Rev. Fr. (Prof) Hyacinth Ichoku, Vice Chancellor, Fr George Ehusani, and Prof Abiodun Adebayo, Guest Facilitator of the staff retreat. Credit: Fr. George Ehusani

The founder of the Psycho-Spiritual Institute (PSI), a Catholic entity that specializes in psycho-trauma healing, described Veritas University as a “city built on a hill” and a “lamp mounted on a lampstand,” illuminating society with truth and knowledge. 

Highlighting Veritas university’s achievements, Fr. Ehusani praised the institution’s staff and students for expanding academic programs, excelling in sports, and earning national and international recognition. 

He expressed gratitude for the personal sacrifices of staff and acknowledged the challenges overcome by the institution’s pioneers in establishing the university in Abuja.

The Director of Lux Terra Leadership Foundation lauded the Catholic identity of Veritas University, which is hailed for producing well-rounded graduates, morally outstanding, noting licensing delays.

“Many of you may not have heard that the licensing of this University by the Federal Government was delayed for almost a year because of the refusal by NUC to give the proper name that the founders desired for this project, which is, the Catholic University of Nigeria. Catholic is the very identity of Veritas. It is the Catholic Church that has provided Veritas with its raison d’etre,” he said.

From left - Rev Fr Cyril Obanure, Guest Facilitator of the retreat, and Fr George Ehusani. Credit: Fr. George Ehusani

Fr. Ehusani said staff must embody the faith daily, noting that “the academic and administrative staff of a Catholic University must be sufficiently grounded and confident in their faith to demonstrate daily how the faith shapes, nurtures, guides, and inspires their academic learning and professional competencies.”

“Such witnessing is only possible if the staff are striving hard to live out the faith in the midst of the university community,” he clarified.

He added that Catholic universities form character as well as minds, and explained, “In addition to training minds and imparting critical skills, the Catholic University aims at forming character and shaping souls. It prepares good citizens for the next world.”

Quoting St. John Paul II’s Apostolic Constitution, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, Fr. Ehusani said, “The Catholic University, far from being an institution exterior to the Church, is from the very heart of the Church or the Church’s mission. Faith and Reason should combine to explore the riches of Revelation and the riches of Nature. This calls for the nurturing of a distinctive kind of institution, one whose very essence would be quite different from secular universities.”

He contrasted African Catholic universities with moral decline in Western societies, saying,  “We are at a critical intersection in human history, when long established absolute truths are being contested The United States, Canada and Australia are falling over themselves to legalise abortion and euthanasia, to legitimise homosexual unions and to mount an aggressive campaign against segments of the Catholic Church and other traditional religious groups.”

From left, Prof Abiodun Adebayo, a lady staff of the University, Fr Hyacinth the V.C., Fr George Ehusani and Dr Boni Bazza, event organiser. Credit: Fr. George Ehusani

He also warned about social media’s effect on intellectual culture, saying, “Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, are often engineered to promote instant gratification and immediacy, not the kind of deep thinking or intellectual rigour for which Catholic Universities are established… They promote what is trending, not what is true.”

Fr. Ehusani urged staff to uphold the university’s mission.

“Shall we simply join the bandwagon in the prevalent cultural degeneracy, or shall we use our privileged intellectual exposure and faith formation to answer the urgent call to illuminate the midnight of error… with the powerful message of the One who says, ‘I am the Light of the world. No one who follows me will ever walk in darkness?” he posed.