Attacks On Catholic Church No Threat To Her Faith And Mission - Archbishop Kaigama

 
The continuous attack on the Catholic Church by some academics and media of the Western world cannot obliterate the good works of the Church in all parts of the world since it was founded by Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago.

This assertion was made by the Catholic Bishop of Jos and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama in his homily at the thanksgiving Mass marking the celebration of the 150 years of the Society of African Missions (SMA) in the country. The ceremony which took place at St Joseph`s Church, Vom, was part of the activities of the Year of Faith in the Archdiocese of Jos.

The Metropolitan of Jos also noted that no amount of intimidation or reckless statements will make the Church to succumb to the frivolities of a present day world fraught with evil in the name of science and development.

Archbishop Kaigama noted that the 'negative manner in which some analysts and commentators talk about the Catholic Church can tempt even ardent Catholics to hate their Catholicism.' He added: 'They portray the Catholic Church in terms of scandals and hardly focus on the Catholic Church's over 400,000 priests, over 5,000 Bishops over a million Rev. Sisters and Brothers selflessly doing good work in different parts of the world. Hardly is mention made of the over 250,000 schools, 160,000 health institutions, etc. The media and social commentators are so engrossed in revealing the so-called scandals (not the blessings) of the Catholic Church.'

The Archbishop continued: 'While the Catholic Church welcomes well intentioned criticisms and believe that the few priests who abuse children or do bad things must be disciplined, it should not be forgotten that child abuse goes on in homes, schools and other religious communities and must also be exposed. Some believe that if we do away with celibacy all sexual problems will be solved, but they forget there are also abuses by married clergy. It should be remembered that Catholic priests were once married; celibacy came in because marriage did not help the priests to render selfless service.

Archbishop Kaigama further noted that: 'If some priests (not all) fail in their celibacy, it should be attributed to the general moral failure in a society that is anti-God with poor family values where such priests come from (cf. Hb 5:1). What a lazy generalization to believe that all half million Catholic priests are guilty of the sins of a few! One gets the impression that some persons are so determined to bring the Catholic Church to her knees. The Church may fall on her knees, but praying, not in defeat.'

While commending the SMA missionaries for taking the risks and dying for bringing the Catholic faith to Nigeria without counting the cost, Archbishop Kaigama noted that these missionaries have not laboured in vain as attested to by the progress and growth of the Church in Nigeria. He also called for reciprocation from the Church in Nigerian.

He said: 'We are happy that our sons too have become SMA priests and members of other religious Congregations and have gone to foreign lands to contribute to evangelization. We in Nigeria are in a position in Nigeria to give back generously to lands that first brought the gospel. We implore them not to close down parishes or sell off Church buildings. We can share our spiritual resources.'

The CBCN President also used the occasion to outline what the Catholic Church is not in spite of insinuations by its antagonists and the need for the faithful to make the best use of the Year of Faith to 'embrace their faith anew and proclaim the Gospel with their lives'.
Culled from Beacon Magazine