A PASTORAL MESSAGE PRESENTED AT THE END OF THE 4TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF ABUJA, NOVEMBER, 2023

A PASTORAL MESSAGE PRESENTED AT THE END OF THE 4TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF ABUJA, HELD AT OUR LADY QUEEN OF NIGERIA PRO-CATHEDRAL, GARKI, ABUJA, FROM THURSDAY, 9TH NOVEMBER TO SATURDAY, 11TH NOVEMBER, 2023.

PREAMBLE

United as a family of God in the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, we give thanks to God for the success of our 4th General Assembly, held at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral, Garki, Abuja, from 9 – 11 November, 2023, where we focused special attention on the theme of “Marriage and Family in the Contemporary Society”, on its cherished Christian ideals of love, fidelity, spirituality and discipline and on its challenges. We the delegates, having listened to each other, discussed and prayerfully reflected on the theme, now present the fruits of our assembly to the entire Archdiocese of Abuja as well as the people of the Federal Capital Territory and beyond.

EVENTS IN THE ARCHDIOCESE

Since our last General Assembly, we have witnessed moments of joys and sorrows in the Archdiocese. We rejoice with our Archbishop Emeritus, John Cardinal Onaiyekan who celebrated his 40th Episcopal ordination anniversary on January 6, 2023. We congratulate our pioneer spiritual year seminarians who graduated from our newly founded Sacred Heart Spiritual Year Seminary, Passo, Gwagwalada, on 22 June, 2023. As part of our efforts to take evangelization to the rural areas in our Archdiocese, a two week seminar/workshop for men and women part-time Catechists and Catechism teachers was organized in August 2023. The Archdiocese successfully hosted the 2nd Plenary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria from 10 – 14 September, 2023. We thank our generous Catholics and all those who contributed to the success of the conference. We thank God for the successful completion of the one-month 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome, of which our Archbishop, Most Rev. Ignatius A. Kaigama was a synodal father. With faith in the resurrection of the dead we mourn the passing of late Rev Fr. Jerome Megbelayin, whom the Lord called to Himself on 26 September, 2023. He served as fidei donum priest for some years in our Archdiocese as Financial Administrator. May his soul rest in peace with the Lord.

CATHOLIC TEACHING ON MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

From the beginning of creation, God designed a covenantal plan for marriage, whereby a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife, and the two become one flesh (cf. Gn. 2:24; Mt. 19:4-6). At the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus elevated this union to the status of a sacrament (cf. Jn. 2:1-11). The human person was created by God out of love, and each person is called to love within his or her vocation. The love between husband (man) and wife (woman) mirrors the love between Christ and His Church – a love that involves the totality of all the elements of the person and aims at a deep and personal unity that leads to forming one heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving and is open to children (cf. Familiarias Consortio 13). According to St. Augustine, the “goods” of marriage can be summarized as Bonum Prolis (procreation and education of children), Bonum Coniugum (good of the spouses) and Bonum sacramenti (the sacramental bond) (cf. Can. 1055 $1). Christian marriage is not only a permanent and exclusive union; it creates the family as a “domestic church,” and a “school of synodality” that marks a community of faith, hope and love. The Church teaches that marriage is in fulfilment of the scriptural command of God to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth (cf. Gn. 1:27-28). Where procreation is not possible, conjugal life does not for this reason lose its value nor does childlessness become a consequence of marital infidelity, divorce or separation.

THE PLACE OF AFRICAN VALUES IN THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY

The essential Christian values of marriage such as unity and indissolubility have become accepted and lived out in our African Christian context. There is need, however, for a more profound integration of whatever is good, true and just from our traditional African values into the Christian family. There are honourable aspects of our cultural marriage practices such as the communitarian spirit, value of preserving human life, respect for human sexuality and fidelity that enrich family living in our cultural, economic, social and political space. Deliberate efforts must be made to break away from the dysfunctional elements of the African marriage system such as marital infidelity, widow inheritance, break-up of childless marriages and mistreatment of barren women and widows. Families can be truly happy on account of the love that reigns in the home and not determined by luxurious living, child bearing and material wealth. Families should be encouraged to live out the gospel values and Christian marriage in a way that is distinctively African and truly Christian.

SOME CHALLENGES OF THE FAMILY IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

The family is the vital cell of the society. A nation is itself, a family of families and good families in turn make good nations. Every nation needs effective and efficient institutions to be administered by competent leaders. The family is that context where spiritual, intellectual and moral capacities are born and nurtured. Therefore, the success of every sphere of life of a nation largely depends on the quality of its families. A threat to normative family life is a threat to human progeny. There are formidable challenges that militate against the family vocation.

Contemporary society has been infiltrated by the poisonous ideologies of relativism, modernism, materialism, individualism and secularism. These erroneous lines of thought are manifested in the clamour for a redefinition of marriage and family to include same sex union, habitual cohabitation and artificial means of sexual gratification, procreation and birth control.

The economic situation of our country makes it difficult for families to thrive. Many families are paying a high price on account of poverty, unemployment and social deprivation.

The deficits of good leadership and the poor implementation of national policies that lead to the cycle of violent conflict, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other criminal activities continue to impact negatively on the stability of the family. Families continue to suffer loss of life and property, displacement from their homes and means of livelihood.

PASTORAL CARE FOR THE FAMILY

The Archdiocese of Abuja exercises her responsibility for the pastoral care of the family through her Family and Human Life Commission. We encourage parishes and chaplaincies to revamp the activities and implement the policies of the Commission to ensure the preservation of Christian family values among the faithful.

Catechesis as an important aspect of marriage formation is provided by the Archdiocese through marriage course, counselling, retreats, seminars and workshops under the auspices of this Commission. There are trainings for marriage instructors and other personnel who work closely in collaboration with the priests in offering pastoral care for intending couples and those in the married life. The Archdiocese also invests time and resources in the formation of young people especially towards family life. Such pastoral care is aimed at providing Catholic moral formation on responsible parenthood, natural family planning, spiritual growth and a holistic family life. The Gaudium et Spes Institute, Asokoro, is our resource centre that offers these essential pastoral services for the renewal of family.

ONGOING ARCHDIOCESAN PROJECTS

The Archdiocese rolled out a 5-year financial plan towards the execution of some projects. Thus far, some progress has been made in this regard. We are grateful for your generosity and we encourage more individuals and groups to support our vision to complete our befitting cathedral building, to also build a youth formation centre, catechetical institute, to also support our 60 new pastoral areas, etc, and to facilitate the work of evangelization.

KEY RESOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. A good Christian family is built on the foundation of prayer. Families should revive the culture of observing the angelus, prayer before meals and other Catholic devotions together.
2. We encourage parishes, pastoral areas and chaplaincies to organize frequent retreats, workshops and seminars for singles, intending and married couples.
3. Adequate time should be dedicated for marriage preparation in its spiritual, human, moral and catechetical aspects. Priests should take personal interest in these aspects of preparing prospective couples. Marriage sponsors must also be actively involved in the process.
4. Some families are in grave danger of breakdown due to marital and family crisis. Priests and other pastoral agents are encouraged to sacrifice quality time and attention to resolving family challenges.
5. We condemn the undue pressure on young people to rush into marriage without a proper understanding of its meaning and significance.
6. We call on married couples to marital fidelity just as our celibate priests and religious are called to a life of purity.
7. The family is the natural context for childbearing. We discourage the recent trends of having babies outside of marriage.
8. We encourage families to resist erroneous, erosive and pervasive ideologies of contemporary society that undermines the institution of marriage and family life.
9. We commend families who have remained faithful to their marital vows and responsibilities as parents. As we ask other families to emulate their good example, we encourage them to volunteer their time and wealth of experiences in preparing spouses for marriage.
10. We acknowledge that the single life, just as the married and priestly calling is also a noble vocation (cf. Mt. 19:12). We discourage every form of mistreatment of unmarried ladies or men.
11. We call on the government at all levels to implement policies and programmes that alleviate poverty, unemployment, insecurity and disease to help families to thrive.
12. We also recommend that the fruits of this assembly be stepped down to all parishes, pastoral areas and chaplaincies before the next Archdiocesan General Assembly.

CONCLUSION

When Jesus the Word of God became man, He was born and nurtured in a human family. The family thrives when they welcome Jesus as the unseen guest in their homes. We continue to pray for families experiencing difficulties and pains, that through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Holy Family of Nazareth, that they experience peace and love. We also entrust all the families in our Archdiocese to the paternal care of St. Joseph, protector of the Holy Family, to be strengthened in the faith and to fully live out their vocation. May we, the family of God in the Archdiocese of Abuja continue to witness greater spiritual, social and pastoral progress.

Most Rev. Ignatius A. Kaigama,
Archbishop of Abuja.

Very Rev Fr. Sam Tumba,
Chancellor.