“Listening to one another”: Catholic Bishops in Nigeria’s Ibadan Province on Synodal Dialogue with Women Religious

During the August 12 listening session that was attended by Women Religious from 12 congregations, the Bishops, speaking individually, acknowledged that while the Church is experiencing pastoral growth, it continues to face numerous challenges.

“They admitted that the ongoing meeting is intended to reinforce their determination with the Religious to collectively address old and emerging challenges in the Church. It is a reinforcement of the important role that Women Religious play in the life of the Church, in the life of families and in society, especially within Ibadan Province,” the Local Ordinary of Oyo says.

One of them has been quoted as saying, “We must find every way to help sustain the dignity and integrity of the church of Jesus Christ bequeathed to us over time.”

Some Bishops, the Nigerian Catholic leaders continues, “emphasized that an adequate understanding of ecclesiology must be factored into the formation of Priests and Religious in order to secure authentic spirituality because the latter actually derives from the former.”

“A corollary of this must be an appreciation and sustenance of community life, lived as brothers and sisters to safeguard the sanity of the Priest or Religious.  All this, coupled with visionary and courageous leadership for Priests and Religious, will discourage the flourishing of spirituality and pastoral practices that are extraneous and damaging to the catholic faith,” the Nigerian Catholic Bishop says.

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He noted that the Women Religious were “urged to exploit more the educational and healthcare spaces which they govern in the Church, like hospitals and schools, to propose multimedia catechesis and Catholic spirituality for evangelizing those they encounter every day.”

“Post-marital accompaniment of our young people also emerged as an area needing more attention from pastors and Religious to help the young married people to confront the challenges of their life as Catholics,” Bishop Badejo says.

Bishops of Ibadan Province have also underscored the need for the youth apostolate, emphasizing the importance of “planning with and working with”, rather than planning for and working for the young people. 

“A give-and-take attitude is indispensable for the youth apostolate to exploit to the maximum, the ability of the young people themselves to self-mobilize for positive purposes,” Bishop Badejo says, adding that “these strategies must of course be nuanced according to the rural or urban environment in which the youths are situated as the case may be.”

On their part, women Religious Superiors, present personally or through representatives, welcomed the invitation to discuss mission priorities.

Bishop Badejo says the women Religious “unveiled some areas of concern for them in their apostolate, which include challenges with youth catechesis and the general religious environment, which has become more liberal than ever before.”

He further says, “They expressed concern about how to be effective pilgrims of hope when they do not have the material means of actually giving hope to people, about the excessive attempts at inculturation and innovation by some Priests in certain parts of worship, and the balance of relationship in collaborative ministry especially where it involves Priests and Religious.”

“The Religious Superiors appealed to the Bishops to check some excesses within the liturgy being manifested by certain individuals and in various forms, and which need to be checked because they damage the faith of the people and even of the Religious,” Bishop Badejo says.

He notes that “such matters have been addressed at the level of the national conference of Bishops but need to be made more effective at the Provincial level as well.”

The Local Ordinary of Oyo Diocese says the Women Religious also called on the Bishops to “pay attention to the proliferation of Religious Congregations, some of which have little or no structured formation or community life.”

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“These carry on with their speculative religious life with little or no ecclesiastical control while soiling the name of other Religious in the eyes of the faithful who innocently consider them all of the same stock. Such tendencies, if allowed to fester, actually endanger the very mission of the Church,” he adds.

Bishop Badejo says women Religious expressed the desire to “have further meetings between the Major Superiors and the Bishops of the Province where even more sensitive issues can be ironed out for enhanced pastoral life in the Church.”

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.