Cardinal Arinze hosts church organisations,emphasises importance of lay faithful,commends Archbishop Okeke

By Ononye VC
Prefect Emeritus,Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments,Vatican City,His Eminence,Francis Cardinal Arinze on Wednesday,hosted the various leadership of lay organisations of the Archdiocese of Onitsha namely,the Laity Council,Catholic Men Organisation (CMO),Catholic Women Organisation(CWO) and Catholic Youth Organisation (CYON) at his Nkwelle Ezunaka residence near Onitsha.
Addressing the groups inside his expance sitting room,the Cardinal reemphasized what he called,”The distinctive role” of the lay faithful in the church and evangelization.He pointed out that the lay faithful has a big chunk in the church so long as one is baprized.The family he said,is a micro church where the father does his work as the family priest and also evangelises in his work place pointing out that the lay faithful constitute nearly 99 percent of the church.
He commended them for their strong faith and sacrifices towards the growth of the church and support for the clergy,and expressed regrets that in some parts of Europe,the church is mired in different challenges.
Leaders of the various organisations namely, Engr Leo Obiefuna (laity),Sir Evarist Uba(CMO) (represented by Hon Casmir Izukanne),Dame Dr Ngozi Nwanosike(CWO) and Master Osorachukwu Okonkwo(CYON),took time to brief the Cardinal on their achievements and commitments towards erection of the Shanahan University,welfare of priests and lay faithful as well as seminars and trainings for improvement of their members.
The Cardinal commended the Archbishop Valerian Okeke for providing conducive atmosphere for success of the organisations’ endeavours and also for embarking on the Shanahan University project.
He pointed out that the university project was a courageous step towards bridging the gap in quality education and sustainable education for generations yet unborn.
The organisations were led on the visit by their chaplains namely,Very Rev Fr Johnbosco Okafor (CWO),Rev Fr Collins Okoye(CWO),Very Rev Fr Celestine Aniofor (Laity) and Very Rev Fr Sampson Ogbuebuna (CMO).
The Secretary General of CMO,Hon Casmir Izukanne in an interview with Trinitas,said the visit was a fulfilling experience and that they learnt a lot from the wealth of the Cardinal’s experience in respect of what has been happening in the global Catholic church.
Various gift items we’re presented to the Cardinal.