He added, “We must remain pillars in our worship communities and not yield to the temptations of the evil one through the greed for possessions and worldly powers. These are the weapons in the arsenal of the devil to destroy our nation and indeed, humanity.”
The Local Ordinary of Abuja Archdiocese called upon the Catholic population in Nigeria to use the ongoing preparations for the Synod on Synodality as an opportunity to effect change.
“We urge our over 50 million Catholics in Nigeria to be instruments of change, not only spiritually, pastorally, but even politically, using our preparations for the Synod on Synodality as a new spring board,” the Nigerian Archbishop said.
He further urged government officials, church leaders, civil servants and all Nigerians in leadership positions “to make a new and strong determination to build a civilization of love, social justice, compassion, freedom and peace, and to overcome evil with good.”
“As we engage in prayer, fasting and almsgiving during this Lenten Season, may the swords, clubs, guns, bombs and knives used to maim, kill and destroy one another be beaten into ploughshares,” Archbishop Kaigama said, referencing the prophet Isaiah.
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He cautioned parents against absenteeism in families and said that such a culture is threatening the existence of families. He noted that parents are too busy and distracted even to oversee family prayers.
“The family, the expected domestic church, the place of love and healing has become a place where members are strangers to one another,” Archbishop Kaigama said, and added, “What of the intrusive nature of social media?”
He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic did not only disrupt economies, interpersonal relationships, distancing many from the warmth of fraternal encounters, “but also threatened to cripple cherished ecclesiastical programs and traditions.”
However, Archbishop Kaigama said, “COVID-19 pandemic, and not even terrorists’ attacks, kidnappers’ menace, biting hunger in the face of spiraling prices of commodities, dehumanizing corruption, could cripple our faith and commitment to serve our country as ministers of the Catholic Church.”