Selection of Bishop Candidates Goes Beyond Ethnicity, Place of Origin: Nuncio in Nigeria

Prioritizing ethnic background in the selection of candidates for Catholic Church offices, as in other life situations, can be a source of “divisions and oppositions, which are grave sins and cause damage, even sowing death and destruction,” Archbishop Filipazzi said.

The Catholic Church is “a community without borders and divisions”, he further said, emphasizing the need for the members of the Church to foster this communal and collective aspect.

Addressing himself to the newly ordained Bishop who had been appointed on April 9, the Apostolic Nuncio called for the fostering of unity in Episcopal Ministry.

He highlighted areas of unity aspects, which Bishop Dugu will need for promote in his pastoral care of the people of God in Nigeria’s Katsina-Ala Diocese, including “apostolic teaching (unity of faith), prayer and especially the Eucharistic Liturgy (unity of worship), common life with the concrete acts that follow from it (unity of charity).”

Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of Abuja Archdiocese congratulated the newly ordained Bishop.

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Reiterating the Apostolic Nuncio’s concerns about ethnicity, Archbishop Kaigama called upon the people of God in Katsina-Ala Diocese to shun ethnocentrism and instead foster unity in diversity.

In his maiden speech as Local Ordinary of the Nigerian Diocese, Bishop Dugu expressed his gratitude to God for the opportunity to be at his service as a Bishop.

He prayed for the repose of the soul of his predecessor who he said made “enormous sacrifice as the first Bishop of Katsina-Ala Diocese and for the solid foundation he laid for the Episcopal See.”

In the April 9 administrative changes in Nigeria, Pope Francis appointed Mons. Dugu as the successor of Bishop Peter Iorzuul Adoboh who died suddenly in February 2020.

Born in Nigeria's Gboko Diocese in April 1971, Mons. Dugu was ordained a Priest for Nigeria’s Makurdi Diocese in October 2000 and incardinated in Gboko Diocese in December 2012.

In his Priestly Ministry, the Nigerian Bishop had served in various positions, including, Parish Vicar of the Holy Ghost in Abeda; Parish Priest of St. Mary’s in Chito; Parish Vicar of the Holy Ghost in Makurdi and Administrative Secretary of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) in Lagos.

Erected in December 2012, Katsina-Ala Diocese has an estimated 214,175 Catholic population spread across 6,465 square kilometers, according to 2019 statistics.

The Nigerian Diocese, which is under the patronage of St. Gerard Majella, falls under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Abuja.

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.