Catholic Bishop of Lafia ordains four new priests

David Ajang, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lafia on Thursday ordained four new priests in the diocese.

Those ordained as priests were Godwin Ovey-Joseph, Michael Gbavorh-Ibrahim, Ignatius Wayima-Abugu and Richard Emeka-Chukwu.

Speaking at the ordination ceremony at the Saint Williams Cathedral Lafia, Nasarawa State, Ajang told the newly-ordained priests that they were called to greater responsibilities of winning souls for God.

He reminded them that priests have a lot of influence on the lives of the people; as such, they should be good influence on the people and not bad.

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He added that “in recent times across the globe, men of God had misled their members, thereby, separating marriages that were hitherto peaceful, asked members to take dangerous substances and behave in immoral ways.”

He also urged the priests to be practical examples to the people and add value to themselves to be effective preachers to enable them to win more souls.

“Priests might not be eloquent speakers like the other renowned priests, but a priest must be a decent speaker,” Ajang added.

He further said that priests must be organised and not assumed to be the holiest, while all other members of the church are sinners.

Ajang said clerics must manage their time well while preaching to get the attention of the people and affect their lives positively.

He said that homily must be decent, simple, sincere, clear, have solid content, and sustain the unadulterated doctrine of the church.

The bishop also said that the Catholic Church has given priority to the plight of common people, given the current economic hardship.

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“You must identify with the poor in your different parishes and support them to feed and stay alive, given the current economic challenges.

“Things that were taken for granted in the past, such as charging phones and food, are now beyond what the people can afford.

“Small businesses are collapsing due to the absence of power and the high cost of petroleum products.

“People can no longer feed well due to high cost of food, and a lot of people are struggling to survive,” he added.

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He, therefore, called on government to urgently tackle the increasing inflation rate, address the problem of electricity to save businesses,
and support farmers to produce more to curtail the ongoing hunger in the country.

The ordination ceremony witnessed friends, family members, and well wishers of the newly ordained priests.