By Olivia Obijiaku
Forgiveness is often easier preached than practiced. But despite the difficulties encountered in forgiving those who have hurt one deeply, Rev Fr. Cyriacus Onwuharaonye was able to forgive and absolve the man who killed his only sister. Fr. Onwuharaonye, a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, was the homilist at the Mass of thanksgiving for the outgoing Parish Priest of Sacred Heart Parish, Wusasa, Zaria, Rev. Fr. Cletus Dauya which was celebrated on Sunday, July 20, 2025.
The priest told the congregation that his only sister had died mysteriously in 2003, while he was in Philosophy 2. But two years after his ordination as a priest, he went home and while at the confessional that was so covered, that he could not see the penitent, the murderer said, “Father, forgive me. I killed your only sister, and I have come …, I have come for you to forgive me the sin of killing your only sister.”
There were different kinds of reactions in the Church, but the common denominator was empathy. Many people wept as the clergyman continued the narration, while he sobbed. “As I was battling with tears, the man was there, ‘Father please, are you there?’ I was struggling …; I was struggling. I forgave him. I forgave him in the name of Christ, in the name of the Church.”
In an interview with Trinitas Newspaper after the Mass, the priest disclosed, “I could not see his face. I could not dictate his voice. But he was forgiven. I am just an instrument. So, if your Christianity has not gotten so matured that you will see somebody who has offended you, who has caused you pain and say to that person, ‘your sins are forgiven, then you are still climbing. So, nothing should come between us and God – not even the worst sin, because Christ Himself died for us, even when we were still sinners.”
