Meanwhile, Bishop Dugu cautioned Catholic Priests in Nigeria against elevating themselves during the Eucharistic celebration, noting that the celebration is not a Priest’s achievement.
“The action of the celebration does not belong to the individual but to the Church of Christ,” he said, and added, “The liturgy does not say, ‘I’ but ‘we’”.
The 52-year-old Catholic Bishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in July 2022 as Local Ordinary of Katsina-Ala urged members of the Clergy in Nigeria to always strive to be humble and pure.
“The ordained ministers must realize that fidelity to God and the Church’s tradition is inseparably woven in their priestly identity. They must strive to remain the ‘priests of God for the people of God’ and not the ‘priests of the people for God,’” he said.
Bishop Dugu also called on the Laity to do their part in encouraging their Priests to be faithful to their calling, “by not mounting undue pressures and sometimes making unnecessary demands of them just to satisfy their spiritual yearnings.”
In his October 2 homily, Bishop Dugu urged Bishops serving populations in Nigeria’s Benue State to improve the standards of the holy sites in the state to boost the morale of those seeking to go on pilgrimages in the country.
He noted that Nigerians are spending a lot of money visiting holy places outside the country when they already have numerous holy sites within their borders.
“A good number here have had the opportunity of being pilgrims to places like Jerusalem, Fatima, Lourdes, and Santiago de Conpostella. In Benue State, we have places like Aokpe Pilgrimage Centre in Otukpo Diocese. We have Mbape Martyrs Centre of prayers in Gboko Diocese and Se sugh u Maria Pilgrimage Centre, Ayati here in Makurdi Diocese. It is important we encourage ourselves to patronize these holy sites instead of having to spend huge amounts of money to travel abroad,” the Bishop of Katsina-Ala said.
“The famous places we venerate and visit in Europe started just in the same manner like the holy sites we have here in Benue State,” he continued, adding, “In the spirit of Synodality and communion as well as mission, I appeal to my brother Bishops of the Benue, let us give more attention to these places, improve on their standards and deepen their spiritualities.”
“If you go to Europe, there are many holy sites and sometimes it is as if every city or village tells their stories based on how they experienced the intervention of Our Lady in their historical settings. It is important that we patronize our brand,” Bishop Dugu emphasized during his October 2 homily.
