‘Nigeria Needs Priests, Pastors After Christ’s Heart’

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Ignatius Kaigama, yesterday, advised Nigerian priests and pastors to use the biblical Samuel as their role model.
According to him, Nigeria needed priests and pastors “after the heart of Christ” rather than those after their own hearts and the pursuit of personal ambition, while masquerading as prophets, servants or men of God.
Kaigama stated these in his homily delivered at St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, Karu in Abuja where he said that the sluggishness of the national growth of Nigeria after 60 years of independence should not be surprising so long as massive corruption and other indices of division continued to thrive.
He, therefore, called on politicians to prove that they mean what they say in future elections by giving the youth the political oxygen to make meaningful contributions to the nation’s democratic project.
To drive his message to politicians, the cleric specifically used the New Year message of President Muhammadu Buhari, in which he promised that the government would actively engage with the young people and turn their passions into ideas.
He said, “Priests and pastors in Nigeria, like Samuel, should concentrate more on rebuilding broken lives, broken homes; to help rid our society of social evils, and in our religiously polarized and tribally fragmented nation, to foster peace and harmonious coexistence.
“Samuel should be our model priest and prophet. The blasphemous behaviour of the sons of Eli the priest was the very opposite of priestly fidelity and selflessness.
“Instead of serving the needs of others and leading the way to Christ, some pastors and priests today aim at winning allegiance to themselves to become the rallying point, a kind of personality cult.
“Nigeria needs priests and pastors after the heart of Christ rather than those after their own hearts and the pursuit of personal ambition while masquerading as prophets, servants or men of God.
“The call of young Samuel today as that of Jeremiah shows that God calls not only the elderly but also the young to work for Him. The youth are therefore challenged to play more active roles in evangelization. In political governance, they are also to be given a chance to participate fully rather than being seen as immature citizens and agents of crimes.
“With their talents and energy, they can surely make meaningful contributions to our country. I recall that during the last general elections, there was a ‘not too young to rule’ campaign.”