Nigerian Catholic Bishop Warns Against Growing Youth Attraction to Traditional Religion

“If this concern is not curtailed, then there is strong reason to suspect that while shepherds truly abound, only a few care for the flock,” he cautioned.

The member of the Missionary Society of Saint Paul of Nigeria (MSP), who began his Episcopal Ministry as Auxiliary Bishop of the Idah Episcopal See in June 2007, challenged Priests to take a leading role in catechizing the people of God entrusted to them.

He said, “Our land does not lack Priests. Priests must have time to teach catechism. The missionaries taught me catechism. The missionaries taught our elder brothers and sisters catechism. Today Priests must find time to teach catechism.”

“This is not a responsibility that you will waive off to sometimes untrained individuals like legionaries and other people to do for you. Find time to teach the faith,” he stated.

He recognized the courage with which Nsukka’s Bishop Godfrey Igwebuike Onah is already handling the “crisis of faith” among the young people with his active use of social media to counter misinformation and defend the faith.

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“The vigor and courage with which the Bishop of Nsukka Diocese is tackling this concern on social media is encouraging,” he said, adding, “He combines the virtues of two ancient Bishops, the eloquence of St. John Chrysostom and the audacious courage of Bishop John Fisher of Rochester in England.”

In his September 23 homily at St. Theresa’s Cathedral of the Child Jesus of the Nsukka Diocese, Bishop Adaji also reflected on the challenges that come with exercising the Episcopal office faithfully, noting that Bishops are bound by three sacred duties: Munus Docendi (teaching), Munus Sanctificandi (sanctifying), and Munus Regendi (governing). 

“When a Bishop exercises these offices faithfully and in total loyalty to Christ, who appointed him overseer of the labor in his vineyard, two things will happen to him almost simultaneously: love and despise,” he noted.

He added, “Those whose hearts are drawn to the truth of Christ and his salvation and are interiorly disposed to his message will love the Bishop. But those, on the other hand, who abhor and despise the truth of Christ will certainly despise the bishop who proclaims the message.” 

“The fire that Herod ignited against the bearers of the Priesthood at the beginning of the Church has been burning through the ages to this day,” he observed, and went on to recall how St. Pius X in the early 20th century responded to the activities of those who despised and twisted the truth of Christ.

He noted that Pope Pius X, in his September 1907 Encyclical Letter on the Doctrines of the Modernists, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, “pointed out that the Church has adversaries, both within and without. But the most pernicious of these are those found in the Church.”

“How many Bishops today, if I may ask, have had to endure one form of suffering or the other for faithfully seeking to transmit the truth of Christ to their flock? None of those who are faithfully discharging their episcopal duties are spared suffering, attack, threats, calumny, blackmail, and so on,” he said.

Despite these challenges, Bishop Adaji emphasized that the enduring presence of Christ remains the greatest source of strength for the Church’s shepherds. 

“The consolation for us, therefore, is Christ, who does not withdraw his support. He stands by his disciples always,” he said during the September 13 funeral Mass of the pioneer Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, whom he eulogized as a strong defender of faith who cherished the gift of Priesthood.

Nicholas Waigwa is a Kenyan multimedia journalist and broadcast technician with a professional background in creating engaging news stories and broadcasting content across multiple media platforms. He is passionate about the media apostolate and Catholic Church communication.