By Ononye VC
The metropolitan archbishop of Onitsha, the Most Rev. Valerian Okeke, has flagged off the 2023 Laity Week in the Archdiocese of Onitsha.
The flag-off was done on his behalf by the chaplain of the Onitsha Archdiocesan Laity Council, the Very Rev. Celestine Aniofor, who unveiled the Laity Week manual during a Mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Nkpor, near Onitsha.
The theme of this year’s Laity Week as contained in the manual is “Politics and the Common Good in Contemporary Nigeria: The Catholic Social Teaching Standpoint”.
The homily as delivered by Rev. Fr Mike Okagbue touched on the need by the political class to ensure the welfare of the citizens whom they represent and to share the country’s resources for the common good of all.
The Church, Okagbue pointed out, feels that politics is a way to seek the common good; in Nigeria, however, it is a tool for selfishness and the amassing of wealth by the political class.
In his remarks, the chairman of the archdiocesan Laity Council, Engr Leo Obiefuna, pointed out that this year’s Laity Week was the 50th in the series of flag-offs since the beginning of the exercise in the archdiocese.
Obiefuna charged representatives of the parishes to go back home and preach the need for all to use politics for the betterment of society.
