Makurdi, 06 September, 2023 / 8:50 pm (ACI Africa).
The newly ordained Priests of the Catholic Diocese of Lokoja in Nigeria have been urged to prepare for the challenges contemporary Priests face in their ministry, including secularism.
In his homily during the ordination of five deacons to the Priesthood and Thanksgiving Mass for the 75th Birthday of Bishop Martin Olorunmolu of Lokojo Diocese, Fr. George Ehusani cautioned against “clerical triumphalism” in the current world, which he said has gone “back to the Catacombs”.
“These young men are getting into the Priesthood in the context of a very vicious, aggressive, and vindictive form of secularism that is accompanied by practical atheism demonstrated in the lives of many modern-day men and women, including even some of those who fill up our Churches on Sundays,” Fr. Ehusani said in his homily during the September 1 event.
The Nigerian Catholic Priest added, “Brothers, welcome on board. But brace up for impact. We are in an emergency. And so it is not party time. You are answering the call to the Catholic Priesthood at a very difficult time in the world and in our society for truly religious people.”
“The young men before us are getting into the Priesthood at a time of widespread loss of God-consciousness or the rejection by many of any spiritual reference point for the human person and the human society,” Fr. Ehusani said.