By Ononye VC
In what seemed a re-injection of life into the Catholic Boys Organisation,(CBO)Archdiocese of Onitsha,the Archbishop of Onitsha,His Grace,most Rev Valerian Okeke opened the convention 2023 of the Organisation (CBO) last Saturday.
The convention which started with a thanksgiving mass was presided over by the Archbishop at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity,Onitsha with the chaplain of the organisation Rev Fr Jude Ikenze, Chancellor of the Archdiocese Rev Fr Prudentius Aroh and other priests in attendance.
The Catholic boys many of whom were of primary and secondary school ages were excited by the physical presence of the Archbishop during the mass.
In his opening remarks during the mass, Archbishop Okeke expressed gratitude to God for the gift of boyhood and the youth and tasked members of the organization to lay the foundation of their lives with the things of God.
The Archbishop said there was nothing like growing up with the fear of God and committed the efforts of their parents in bringing up the boys to prayers.
In his homily,the Chancellor of the Archdiocese Rev Fr Prudentius Emeka Aroh thanked the Archbishop for his special love for the youths and the CBO.According to him,the CBO was on a journey of faith and how to build it.
He explained to the youths the five major reasons why they assembled for the convention which he listed as; thanksgiving for the gift of boyhood,demonstration of love for CBO by the church,to thank the boys for their services to the church,to receive special blessings from the Archbishop and to forster interaction among the boys as brothers and children of God.
The Chancellor revealed to the boys that the Archbishop has started a culture of excellence in the Archdiocese and would like members of the CBO to come on board and share the vision of the Archbishop particularly in education.
Chaplain of of the CBO Archdiocese of Onitsha,Rev Fr Jude Ikenze thanked the Archbishop for his show of love and care for the CBO and his interest to raise a generation of good men through the CBO.
The event featured march past,cultural dances among other attractions.
