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Nigeria’s Catholic Youth “in high spirits” ahead of WYD 2023: National Chaplain

Fr. Boniface Idoko, National Youth Animator and the Secretary of the Youth Committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). Credit: ACI Africa

Catholic youth in Nigeria, who are to take part in the planned World Youth Day (WYD) 2023 are “in high spirits”, the National Youth Animator and the Secretary of the Youth Committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has said.

In a Tuesday, July 11 interview with ACI Africa, Fr. Boniface Idoko said the August 1-6 event scheduled to take place in Lisbon, Portugal, is not “for tourism or vacation” but a faith encounter with Christ.

“Our youths are in high spirits to attend the WYD,” Fr. Idoko said.

He added, “The World Youth Day is a faith encounter with Christ, not for tourism or vacation; it is going to open youth understanding about the gospel of Christ, from the catechesis they are going to receive and the testimonies they are going to share from other participants.”

“It is expected that WYD will increase their devotion to the Catholic Church,” the National Youth Chaplain in Africa’s most populous nation said.

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The Catholic youth participating in WYD 2023 also stand to gain “the needed commitment to be true soldiers of Christ and also give them an opportunity to interact and build friendships with youths from other nations,” he said. 

In the July 11 interview with ACI Africa, Fr. Idoko highlighted preparations for the global event in Portugal, saying that the official delegation of Nigeria comprises 95 participants “coming from across the country.”

“We also have four Bishops who will be joining the delegation to Lisbon,” Fr. Idoko said in reference to the Chairman for the Youth at CBCN, Bishop Patrick Eluke, alongside Archbishop Valerian Okeke of Onitsha, Bishop Michael Apochi of Otukpo, and Bishop John Oyejola of Oshogbo.

The member of the Clergy of the Archdiocese of Lagos further said, “We are in the process of receiving response for the visas we applied for.”

“The next stage for now will be the orientations, which will prelude our departure,” he further said, and added, “We hope to have the orientation two or three days before departure because of the difficulty in travelling these days.”

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An orientation has been scheduled for July 24, during which “we will have better arrangement and better information given to the pilgrims before the take-off,” Fr. Idoko told ACI Africa during the July 11 interview.

He called upon the Catholic young people in the West African nation to see the WYD 2023 as another opportunity for them to pray for a better Nigeria.

Abah Anthony John contributed in the writing of this article

ACI Africa was founded in 2019. We provide free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Catholic Church in Africa, giving particular emphasis to the words of the Holy Father and happenings of the Holy See, to any person with access to the internet. ACI Africa is proud to offer free access to its news items to Catholic dioceses, parishes, and websites, in order to increase awareness of the activities of the universal Church and to foster a sense of Catholic thought and culture in the life of every Catholic.