By Charles Igwe
Bishop Godfrey Igwebuike Onah of the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka has urged priests in his diocese to make the Sacrament of Penance a central part of their ministry, encouraging them to offer regular opportunities for confession. Speaking during a retreat with priests at the Holy Rosary Retreat and Conference Centre in Nsukka, Bishop Onah criticized the practice of relegating confessions to a brief period after morning Mass.
“If you, as Catholic priests, have been given the authority by Christ to forgive sins, put that among your primary responsibilities,” the bishop emphasized in his homily, delivered on July 4. He called on priests to invite the faithful to confess their sins daily and on many occasions, helping them to recognize their unworthiness and need for forgiveness.
Bishop Onah highlighted the enduring importance of this sacrament, noting that the power to forgive sins is so vital that it remains with a priest even if he is laicized, in cases of emergency during the danger of death. He warned that neglecting to offer regular confession can lead the faithful to lose their “sense of guilt,” which in turn erodes their sense of the sacred.
“If you allow the people to lose the sense of guilt, it will not be long before they lose the sense of the sacred,” Bishop Onah said. “It is standing before the sacred that you feel your worthiness and the need to ask for forgiveness.”
He lamented that some people have become “dead in their conscience” and urged priests to challenge them to seek confession for their own salvation and that of others.
During his homily, which coincided with his 11th Episcopal Anniversary, Bishop Onah also warned clergy members against “sibling or professional rivalry and envy.” He cautioned that priests might unknowingly become agents of rivalry and envy, mistaking these feelings for objectivity when they are envious of another priest’s achievements.
