THEME: CATHOLIC CHURCH PROMOTING MERCY, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND
PEACE
1. PREAMBLE
We, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, held our First Plenary
Meeting of the year at the Daughters of Divine Love Retreat and Conference
Centre Abuja, from 13 to 19 February, 2016. Having prayerfully reflected on the
issues affecting the Church and our country, we now present our Communiqué.
2. EVENTS IN THE
CHURCH
We pray for the repose of the soul of Bishop Emeritus of
Port-Harcourt, Bishop Alexius Makozi, who was buried on 28 January, 2016. May
the souls of all our departed bishops and all the faithful departed through the
mercy of God rest in peace, Amen. We congratulate His Eminence, Francis
Cardinal Arinze, on his Golden Jubilee of Episcopal Ordination. We also express
our sentiments of joy and celebrate with Most Rev. Michael Okoro Bishop
Emeritus of Abakaliki, on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee of Priestly
Ordination, with Most Rev Francis Okobo, Bishop Emeritus of Nsukka, on his
Golden Jubilee as a Priest and Silver Jubilee of Episcopal Ordination and with
Nsukka Diocese on its Silber Jubilee. May the Lord continue to bless and
strengthen his ministers and his Church, Amen. The 8th World Meeting of
Families Celebration in Philadelphia, USA, and the 51st International
Eucharistic Celebration in Cebu, Philippines, ended successfully. We hereby
invite all to the National Meeting of Families taking place in the Archdiocese
of Lagos from 11 to 14 April, 2016.
3. YEAR OF MERCY
IN ACTION
We recognize that mercy is the very foundation of the
Church’s life (Misericordiae Vultus 10) and a criterion for the credibility of
our faith namely, ‘Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy’
(Matt 5:7). As members of God’s household, beneficiaries of the abundant mercy
of God, we must make ourselves credible ambassadors of God’s mercy to our
neighbours and to our world. As
ambassadors of God’s mercy, we must rediscover the tremendous benefits of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation; live out more fully the corporal and the spiritual
works of mercy (Rom 12:8); draw men and women to be reconciled with God and
among themselves and inspire them to live fully their Christian faith. We urge every particular Church in Nigeria to
initiate programmes that will promote living this Holy Year as an extraordinary
moment of grace and spiritual renewal. We reiterate the incisive statement of
Saint Pope John XXIII to the effect that “there can be no peace between people
unless there is peace within each one of them, unless, that is, each one builds
up within oneself the order wished by God” (Pacem in Terris 165). We affirm that the human family is
fundamental in attaining peace in the society.
4. THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
We re-affirm the teaching of the Church that the human being
is fundamental to the social order. Over the years, the Catholic Church has
been at the forefront of promoting social justice. We commend the Justice,
Development and Peace Commission and Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria for
the good work they are doing. Given the emerging challenges of our time, we
urge them to intensify efforts in promoting human rights, conflicts management,
elections monitoring and advocacy for good governance. We are resolved in
promoting a better quality of life for all, the right to work and the dignity
of labour. We equally advocate integral education, poverty alleviation and
health care services.
5. THE STATE OF
THE NATION
We recognize the efforts of the Nigerian government, the
Military and other Security Agencies in degrading Boko Haram Insurgency,
especially in the North Eastern part of Nigeria. Yet, there are strings of
attacks in soft targets such as Internally Displaced Persons camps, markets and
parks. We encourage the government and security agencies to do all they can to
defeat insurgents and prevent further loss of lives. We pray for God’s mercy on
all who have died in this war. We equally enjoin government and indeed all
Nigerians, to seek alternative strategies towards ending terrorism and thus win
them over to our communities. We commend the initiative of the Federal
Government towards rehabilitation of the Boko Haram victims. We also urge the
government not to lose sight of the destroyed properties of all affected groups
including the religious bodies, and request that the composition of relevant
committees would include religious leaders in the North East, who are already
working hard in this regard.
We appreciate the efforts of the government in fighting
corruption. In his Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy,
Misericordiae Vultus, Pope Francis says: ‘Corruption is a grave sin which cries
out to heaven for vengeance, because it threatens the very foundation of
personal and social life. It is a sinful hardening of the heart that replaces
God with the illusion that money is a form of power’ (art. 19). We therefore
call on the government to use appropriate legal processes to thoroughly
investigate the crimes of the past, transparently prosecute accused persons,
and hold the guilty accountable in accordance with the laws of the land.
Nonetheless, legal efforts are not enough. We enjoin all to seek positive and
effective way forward through our common spiritual and religious values,
namely, prayers and spiritual/moral rebirth as basis for repentance, reparation
and reconciliation.
We note with dismay the glaring inequality in our society.
The poor who have equal rights to benefit from the wealth of the Nation have
continued to experience lack of basic human needs. We need to diversify our
economy and invest more in grassroots economic infrastructure that promote
healthy small/medium scale industry and enterprise. We call on public office
holders to ensure that resources meant for national development and common good
are used accordingly. This indeed is the goal and end of social justice. We are
worried by the intractable culture of conflicts and growing criminality in our
society. We all have a responsibility to ensure that no member of the society
suffers violence, marginalisation and deprivation. We call on individuals and
communities groups to be more vigilant and be proactively involved in ending
these crises.
6. MERCY,
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND PEACE
We recognize the dire need, in our nation, for positive
thinking and action towards reconciliation, mercy and peace. Tribal, regional
and religious sentiments have held us in bondage for decades. We urge Nigerians
to work in solidarity to correct imbalances in resource/power sharing. Proper
social security and good governance will engender functional education,
employment, health-care, social justice and development, and thus curb
corruption, violence, and poverty. In the spirit of restitution and healing of
hurts, we request the relevant governments at all levels to return and rehabilitate
the schools taken over by the governments after the Nigerian civil war, to
their rightful owners, including the Catholic Church. Also, in the light of divine mercy, we urge
the relevant government authorities to exercise their discretions on prerogative
of mercy, pardon and amnesty with which they are empowered by the National
Constitution in the interest of the common good. This is consistent with the
teaching of Pope Francis: ‘Mercy is not opposed to justice but rather expresses
God’s way of reaching out to the sinner, offering him a new chance to look at
himself, convert, and believe’ (Misericordiae Vultus, 21).
7. PEACE: A TASK
FOR ALL
We reiterate the incisive statement of Saint Pope John XXIII
to the effect that “there can be no peace between people unless there is peace
within each one of them, unless, that is, each one builds up within oneself the
order wished by God” (Pacem in Terris 165).
We re-affirm that the human family is fundamental in attaining peace in
the society. With a renewed urgency, we
urge all families, especially Christian families, to live up to their
expectations as harbingers of peace by shunning violence, building tolerance,
creating an atmosphere of love, harmony, and mutual affection among their
members. As a Church we shall continue to promote repentance, reparation,
reconciliation, justice and peace by preaching the truth of the gospel, by
witnessing of life, by strengthening and sustaining our various structures for
conflict management and by advocating right order in the Church and the
Society.
8. CONCLUSION: LENTEN
SEASON, A TIME OF GRACE
We invite all Christian faithful and indeed all Nigerians,
to seek the face of God whose is rich in Mercy (Eph 2:4). We call on all Nigerians, either as
individuals or as communities, to repent of their wrong doing (Joel 2:13) with
a firm resolution to change for the better, and amend their ways by making
reparation and restitution for their sinful conduct. It is only then that true
reconciliation can take place in a spirit of forgiveness which leads to peace
and harmony. We pray that Mary, Mother
of Mercy, intercede for us so that we may be worthy of receiving the mercy of
God and sharing same with our brothers and sisters. Amen.
Most Rev Ignatius Ayau KAIGAMA Most Rev William A. AVENYA
President, CBCN, Archbishop of Jos Secretary, CBCN, Bishop of Gboko
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