A Cathedraticum to Remember in Abuja

Tony Amadi

The political economy of the Catholic Church includes the Cathedraticum, an annual ritual practiced since early Christianity as a payment made solely to finance the Bishop by the parishes and chapters under his jurisdiction. The Bishop of Rome, better known as the Pope, manages his finances from contributions from the Catholic Church all around the world of.

Similarly, the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja gets it’s own finances from the hundreds of churches under the Archbishop of Abuja. Abuja is divided into six deaneries, a grouping of several parishes of the Catholic Church in the Federal Capital. It is a convenient way for the Archbishop, Cardinal John Onayekan, to administer the diocese.

Along with his Auxiliary Bishop, Most Reverend Dr. Anselem Umoren, the Cardinal along with over 30 priests of the Lugbe Deanery under the headship of Very Reverend Solomon Uko stormed the St. Anthony of Padua Chaplaincy at the Airforce base, Airport Road, Abuja for the annual visit of the Bishop to the Deanery and the “payment of the annual tax” to the Bishop to enable him run the Catholic Church in the diocese.

But the Cathedraticum is not all about paying the Bishop, rather it is a solemn religious event conducted with a high mass celebrated by the Bishop. As the 30 strong priests lined up to begin the event, it was normal that the Cardinal would trail at the end of the procession of the religious whether he was officiating or not, but in keeping with his tradition as master of humility, he allowed the officiating Auxiliary Bishop Anselem Umoren to take the glory.

The priest of the Chaplaincy, Rev Father (Wing Commander) Kwasau, made every body laugh with his highly inspiring welcoming address to the army of Catholic faithful that emptied into the Air Base as the Cathedraticum was holding there for the first time.

It was also my first time at a Cathedraticum, thanks to my Parish Priest, Reverend Father David Kipriono, the Kenyan priest who has stayed with us for the past six years and now about to leave us for further studies in Ireland as part of the rules of St. Patrick’s Missionary Society which he belongs. He had insisted that as outgoing CMO Chairman at St Christopher’s Games Village, Abuja, for the same period that he has been around, I should not miss it. I was happy I did because the blessings that poured out to the faithful at the event were simply unmissable.

The officiating Most Rev. Dr Anselem Umoren rendered a powerful homily and with the captivating readings of the day from the Book of Daniel (3:14-20 24-25.28) where Shedrak, Meshach and Abednego defied King Nebuchadnezzer who sentenced them to the overwhelming heat of the burning fiery furnace for not worshipping the Kings own god.

And the Gospel from St John (8:31-42) where Our Lord Jesus Christ laid the machinations of the Jews who were intent on killing him because he told the truth: “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; this is not what Abraham did. You do the works of your father”.

The smouldering heat being experienced in Abuja these days and the growing menace of meningitis as a result may be one reason the Auxiliary Bishop sensing that more worshippers were outside rather than inside the comparatively small church building at the Nigeria Airforce base did not go into a lengthy epistle before the cathedraticum began. However no one was left in doubt that the message he imparted on the faithful was very well received.

The fourteen churches that make up the Lugbe Deanery showed God from their gifts and payment of the Cathedraticum that “You are to be praised and highly exalted for ever”, a line from the Responsorial Psalm of the day.

The spiritual enrichment of the 2017 Cathedraticum of the Lugbe Deanery of the Archdiocese of Abuja was a obviously a Cathedraticum to remember and the multitudes went home happy and fully satisfied that they had been touched by the spirit of God as the Passion of Christ is set to begin and the Easter celebrations loom in the horizon.

––Amadi, a veteran journalist, wrote from Abuja tonyamadi2009@yahoo.com