St. Dominic’s 70 Years of Dedicated Service
Ferdinand Ekechukwu
It’s been seven great decades of dedicated service, collaboration, mission and hard work since the founding of St. Dominic’s Catholic Church Yaba, Lagos State, in line with religious responsibility to humanity. This was echoed last Tuesday during a press conference unveiling the 70th anniversary logo and programmes of the Church event, by Reverend Father. Charles Onwordi, O.P (Order of Preachers), and pastor of the Parish.
The occasion which is already in progress following activation of some the programmes will celebrate the excellence of Dominicans and give back to the society more than before, encompassing scholarships for 70 indigent students. This will be based on certain criteria by the parish to pick the beneficiaries with activities of the programmes culminating in January 2024.
According to Fr. Onwordi, who is the 10th pastor of St. Dominic’s: “As the parish celebrates 70yrs of her existence, one of such prominent things the parish hopes to enact and build on and which is prominent on her to do list is the establishment of a hospital and diagnostic center to meet the needs of the people at this point in time in our history as a nation when qualitative healthcare is not readily available.”
Describing the parish as mini Nigeria, Fr. Onwordi said “St. Dominic’s has arguably been parish to many Catholics spread across many parishes not only in the present day archdiocese of Lagos but outside of Lagos and even beyond the shores of Nigeria. It is a testimony of our country’s unity in diversity as her parishioners are drawn from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.”
Fr. Onwordi took newsmen through the journey of the Church from Chicago to Nigeria and to Yaba. He also related the 70 years journey of the parish since 1954. “For 800 years, the mission of the Order of Preachers (OP) has been to proclaim the gospel to every corner of the world. We do this for one simple reason: that every soul may come to know and love Jesus Christ,” he said.
He added that the parish’s doors are open for partnership with individuals or groups, religious leaning notwithstanding, to touch more lives. He further expressed his wish and hoped that some of the unique ways the parish has served over the years will be resumed with this occasion.
On the significance of the jubilee, Chairman, Anniversary Committee, Chika Aguhasi; cited the “three scores and ten” (meaning 70) in Psalm 90 verse 10, which he said, is synonymous with completeness. “Essentially, the significance of the 70th anniversary celebration, at 70 you are talking about completion, you are talking about wholeness.
“The parish has attained that age that you can say the age of wholeness. And basically we are celebrating the faithfulness of God in our lives as individuals, as a parish, and as children of God. We are celebrating the strength in our diversity. It’s been 70yrs since we’ve had every Nigeria participate in building this parish. Whatever we have here today in St. Dominic’s was built by Nigerians of all tribes, of all languages. And that’s one great unique thing that we are celebrating.
“We are celebrating some of our heroes past who are no longer here; some are alive, some who have gone to be with the Lord. You know those who built in the past and now we have something to build on and members who are outside this parish at this point in time, within the country or beyond. It’s opportunity for us to celebrate them.”
