GROUNDBREAKING FOUNDATION LAYING OF NEW CATHEDRAL
The Catholic Archbishop of Jos, Most. Rev. Dr. Ignatius Kaigama has laid the foundation of a 6,000 capacity monumental Cathedral for the Archdiocese of Jos.
The ceremony took place at the site of the proposed Divine Mercy Cathedral located at Lamingo, Rayfield road, Jos, Plateau State with a mammoth jubilant Catholic faithful, Priests and Religious.
Archbishop Kaigama maintained that the passion for the project was borne out of the desire of the Archdiocese and Laity to have a bigger Cathedral that would accommodate a large number of people during big events in the state and the country, adding that the idea was conceived in 2005.
He stated that it took them 2 years of discussion on the technical aspects of the Cathedral, describing the project as people-based funded project.
“As we kick start this project today, right from the acquisition of this land up to the foundation laying that we are witnessing today, we did not receive any financial support from any organization or government. It is the laity (parishioners) that have been contributing to this project despite hardships being faced. We are going to keep moving in that spirit,” he stated.
The Chief Shepherd said that the Cathedral would be a place of consolation and hope to both Catholic faithful and humanity in the country and the world.
The Consultant/Architect of the project, Arc. Godwin Udoma said “the Cathedral is a gigantic project with about 100 by 71 wide, bigger than a football field of 50 by 100. The foundation would be dug up to 2metres deep.”
He pledged his commitment to the project, stating that the Cathedral is going to be one of the best in the entire African continent.
In their separate remarks, Chairman of the Laity Council of the Archdiocese Mr. Gwotbit Boniface, OLF Sisters Superior General, Archdiocesan youth president, representative of the women groups and a member of the Holy Childhood Association, assured the Archbishop of their readiness towards putting more sacrifices for the actualization of the monumental project which for now has no fixed time frame for its completion.
