THE ENTIRE GLOBE WAS IN SHOCK AND DISMAY WHEN THE CURRENT
POPE announced to THE WORLD OF HIS INTENTION TO RESIGN DUE TO ILL HEALTH
RECENTLY. SMARTING FROM THE SHOCK, There came THE BUZZ OF WHO NOW BECOMES THE
NEXT POPE. INTERNATIONAL MEDIA threw UP MANY NAMES INCLUDING THREE CARDINALS FROM
NIGERIA. THEY are FRANCIS ARINZE, Anthony OKOGIE and JOHN ONAIYEKAN WHO ARE
presumably QUALIFIED FOR THE CATHOLIC HIGHEST SPIRITUAL OFFICE. A NIGERIAN AS A
POPE? WHY NOT.
ANTHONY OLUBUNMI OKOGIE
Anthony
Olubunmi Okogie, former archbishop of Lagos, now emeritus archbishop of Lagos,
is one of the 209 cardinals of the Catholic Church worldwide. Of this number,
118 are under 80 years. These are the cardinals eligible for election as pope.
Okogie also falls under this category. He will vote and can be voted for. Simply
put, cardinal Okogie could emerge the new pope when the college of cardinals
meet in Rome late march to elect a replacement for pope benedict xvi who
announced he’ll resign on February 28.
He was born Anthony Olubunmi Okogie on June 16, 1936 in
Lagos. He is from a royal family of Uromi, Edo State. His father was Esan and
his mother was Yoruba. Okogie was ordained as a priest on December 11, 1966. He
holds a licentiate in sacred theology, and had planned to study in Rome, but
was called to Nigeria where he was a pastoral assistant at the Holy Cross
Cathedral. After another period of service at Holy Cross Cathedral, he was an
instructor at King’s College.
In 1971, he was ordained titular Bishop of Mascula and
Auxiliary of Oyo, and in 1973 named Archbishop. As Archbishop, Okogie was the
President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and, from 1994 to 2000,
headed the Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria. Okogie was proclaimed Cardinal by
Pope John Paul II in the Consistory of October 21, 2003, and holds the title of
Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria del Monte Carmelo a Mostacciano (Blessed Virgin
Mary of Mt. Carmel of Mostacciano). He is a member of the College of Cardinals,
the body of all cardinal of the Catholic Church. During his cardinalate, Okogie
was one of the Cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 Papal Conclave that
selected Pope Benedict XVI.
The function of the college is to advice the Pope about
church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes
on the death or resignation of a Pope as a Papal Conclave to elect a successor.
The college has no ruling power except during the sede vacante (papal vacancy)
period, and even then its powers are extremely limited by the terms of the
current law, which is laid down in the Apostolic Constitution - Universi
Dominici Gregis and the Fundamental Law of Vatican City State.
CARDINAL FRANCIS
Arinze
Cardinal Francis Arinze was born November 1, 1932. He was
named a Cardinal at the Consistory of 25 May 1985. He is Prefect Emeritus of
the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments,
having served as prefect from 2002 to 2008. Cardinal Arinze is the current
Cardinal Bishop of Velletri-Segni (succeeding Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope
Benedict XVI) since 2005. Arinze was one of the principal advisors to Pope John
Paul II, and was considered papabile before the 2005 papal conclave, which
elected Benedict XVI.
A convert from an African traditional religion, he was
baptized on his ninth birthday (1 November 1941) by Father Michael Tansi, who
was beatified by John Paul II in 1998. His parents later converted to
Catholicism. At age 15, he entered All Hallows Seminary of Onitsha from which
he graduated and earned a philosophy degree in 1950. His father was initially
opposed to his entering the seminary, but after seeing how much Francis enjoyed
it, he encouraged him. Arinze stayed at All Hallows until 1953 to teach.
In 1955, he went to Rome to study theology at the Pontifical
Urban University, where he ultimately earned a doctorate in sacred theology
summa cum laude. On 23 November 1958, at the chapel of the university, Arinze
was ordained to the priesthood by Grégoire-Pierre Agagianian, pro-prefect of
the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith and future cardinal.
After ordination, Father Arinze remained in Rome, earning a
master’s in theology in 1959 and doctorate in 1960. His doctoral thesis on “Ibo
Sacrifice as an Introduction to the Catechesis of Holy Mass” was the basis for
his much used reference work, “Sacrifice in Ibo Religion”, published in 1970.
From 1961 to 1962, Arinze was professor of liturgy, logic, and basic philosophy
at Bigard Memorial Seminary. From there, he was appointed regional secretary
for Catholic education for the eastern part of Nigeria. Eventually, Arinze was
transferred to London, where he attended the Institute of Education and
graduated in 1964.
Francis Arinze became the youngest Roman Catholic Bishop in
the world when he was ordained to the episcopate on 29 August 1965, at the age
of 32. He was appointed titular bishop of Fissiana, and named coadjutor to the
Archbishop of Onitsha, Nigeria. He attended the final session of the Second
Vatican Council in that same year along with the 45 year old Archbishop of
Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II. Following the death of the
Archbishop of Onitsha in February 1967, Arinze was appointed to the position a
few months later, on 26 June 1967. He was the first native African to head his
diocese, succeeding Archbishop Charles Heerey, an Irish missionary.
The new Archbishop did not have much time to settle into his
office before the Nigeria-Biafra War broke out. The entire archdiocese was
located in the secessionist Biafran territory. As a result of the war,
Archbishop Arinze had to flee his see city of Onitsha and to live as a refugee,
first in Adazi and then Amichi, for the three years of the war, which lasted
from 1967 to 1970.
Despite his own refugee status, Archbishop Arinze worked
tirelessly for refugees, displaced persons, the sick and the hungry, offering
support to priests and religious, and giving the faithful hope for the future.
With the help of foreign missionaries, he supervised what one international
relief worker called one of “the most effective and efficient distributions of
relief materials” in history. He also took care to keep the Church separate
from the ongoing political conflict, gaining the respect of all factions in the
country.
Pope John Paul II in 1979 appointed Arinze pro-president of
the Vatican’s Secretariat for Non-Christians, later renamed the Pontifical Council
for Interreligious Dialogue. Archbishop Arinze continued as the ordinary of his
archdiocese, and was the unanimous choice of his brother bishops for President
of the Nigerian Bishops Conference in 1984.
Cardinal JOHN Onaiyekan
His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan was born on January
29, 1944 in Kabba, Kogi State. He had his primary education in Kabba between
1949 and 1956 after which he proceeded to St. Michael’s Secondary School,
Aliade in Benue State for his secondary education between 1957 and 1962. Here,
he made distinctions in all his registered examination. This academic feat he
achieved has ever remained historic, as no student of that school has obtained
such an academic result till date.
His journey to the Catholic Priesthood began in January 1963
when he enrolled to study Philosophy at SS Peter and Paul Major Seminary,
Bodija, Ibadan and completed his Philosophical Studies in June 1965.
Between September 1965 and June 1969, he had his Theology
Studies at the prestigious Pontifical Urban College of Propaganda Fide, Rome.
He was consequently ordained to the Catholic Priesthood at
Kabba, his hometown on August 3, 1969. Cardinal John Onaiyekan still
relentlessly pursued his further studies after his priestly ordination. Between
September 1971 and February 1973, he studied Scripture Studies at the
Pontifical Biblical Institute (Biblicum), Rome.
Similarly, from February 1973 to January 1976, he did his
doctorate programme at the Pontifical Urban University, Rome in Biblical
Theology where he graduated with a First Class Honours.
He has held some strategic appointments. In January 1966, he
was appointed the Rector of the St.
Clement’s Junior Seminary, Lokoja; a position he held till August 1977. In
September 1977, he was assigned to the Major Seminary of SS. Peter and Paul,
Bodija, Ibadan as Vice Rector and teacher of Sacred Scripture with Fundamental
Theology. In the same vein, in February 1978, he was appointed the substantive
Rector of the Seminary.
In November 1982, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of
Ilorin and was ordained Bishop in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome on January 6t,
1983 by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II. Similarly, in October 1984, he was
appointed Residential Bishop of Ilorin. Shortly after the Abuja Ecclesiastical
Mission was created, Cardinal Onaiyekan was appointed the Coadjutor Bishop of
Abuja in July 1990. He then became the substantive Bishop of Abuja in November
1992. In March 1994, he was promoted to an Archbishop with the elevation of
Abuja to Archdiocesan status.
Cardinal Onaiyekan has received some special Holy See
(Vatican) appointments. These include: member of the International Theological
Commission, member of the Methodist/Roman Catholic International Dialogue
Commission, member of Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of
Bishops in the Vatican and member, Standing Committee of the Faith and Order
Commission of the World Council of Churches.
He also received a distinguished Nigerian National Honour-
the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) conferred on him on December 18,
2001, by the then president, Olusegun Obasanjo. Furthermore, Cardinal Onaiyekan
received an Italian Honour in May 2003 as; Grande Ufficiale (1 Classe): Ordine
della Stella della Solidarieta Italiana, conferred on him by President Carlo A.
Ciampi.
Other key posts held are President, Catholic Bishops’
Conference of Nigeria, from March, 1999 to March, 2006; President, Association
of Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa (AECAWA); President,
Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, (SECAM) - from
October, 2004 to January, 2007; Member of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council
(NIREC) – since September, 1999; Co-President, African Council of Religious
Leaders, (ACRL) since June, 2003; Vice-President of the Christian Association
of Nigeria (CAN) from 1996-2003; President of the Christian Association of
Nigeria (CAN) and Co-President of the Nigerian Inter-religious Council between
June, 2007 – June, 2009
His special areas of interests are Sacred Scripture and
fundamental questions of Theology in particular; the Theology of non-Christian
Religions in the Nigerian context and the theological evaluation of African
cultures, history and contemporary socio-economic issues as these affect the
role of the Church in the society.
Also for obvious reasons, he has had much to do with Islam,
its relationship with Christianity and the challenges of peaceful and fruitful
co-operation in the promotion of justice, peace and national development. His
experience of dialogue with Muslims in Nigeria has been on the whole very
positive.
The Nigerian Church as a whole is engulfed in a wild and
joyous celebration for the elevation of Onaiyekan as a new Cardinal of the
Catholic Church. This joy is evident in the eulogies expressed on this great
development.
-culled from THISDAY
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