The serving church in the world

Before Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI, he had published “Co-workers of the Truth, Meditations for Every Day of the Year” in 1990. For meditation on every 11th day of every October, Pope Benedict XVI, from Gottes Angesicht suchen (Seeking God’s presence), pages 48-49 provided this for our reflection: “During the lifetime of Saint Francis of Assisi, people experienced a deep yearning for a Church of the Spirit; they longed for a better, purer, more meaningful Christianity and anticipated that this new Church would bring about a change in the course of history as well. To many of those who suffered from the inadequacies of institutional Christianity, St. Francis seemed to be a God-sent answer to their expectations, and, in fact, Christianity of the Spirit has seldom been so genuinely exemplified as it was in him. “This reflection points to a Church whose institution would serve every aspect of creation. This meditation gives a clearer insight into the wisdom of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) for creating the Department of “Church and Society” in the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria to coordinate the work of the Catholic Church in Nigeria as it relates to human society in general. This Department promotes social development, human dignity, democracy, justice, equity, reconciliation and peace. In the context of dialogue of action, workers from different Christian denominations and other Faiths are employed to work in the Department of Church and Society. The Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria (CCFN) is in touch with other National and International Agencies irrespective of religious affiliation. 

 Jesus founded his Church and entrusted it to the Apostles. In order that the Church may be united and continue her mission, Christ chose Peter to be the head of the Church. The First and Second Vatican Councils affirm this as a declaration (Lumen Gentium, 18). Peter duly exercised the mandate of his office by presiding over the election of Matthias to take the place of Judas (Acts 1, 15-26). On the day of Pentecost, Peter was the one who proclaimed the gospel, as the head of the apostolic body (Acts 2, 14-36). Peter was the first Apostle to perform a miracle at the temple entrance called the Beautiful gate (Acts 3, 6). When Ananias and Saphira committed fraud, Peter exercises the mandate of his leadership as the head of the Apostolic College (Acts 5, 3-8). Peter was the first to admit the gentiles into the Church. He baptized Cornelius and his house hold (Acts 10). Peter presided over the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). When Paul was called by Jesus on the Road to Damascus, he went to visit Peter thereby confirming his vocation (Galatians 1, 17-18). 

The Church continues to spread as the Apostles continue their work of service. The first converts were poor people and peasant farmers and traders. The Church through the work of the Apostles spread from Jerusalem to Rome. The Holy Spirit was living and working with the Apostles. God raised great Apostles like Paul and Deacons like Stephen who became the first Martyr in the Church. In A.D. 64, the Christians were accused of the cause of the fire disaster in Rome. It was suspected that this fire was caused by Emperor Nero himself. However, the emperor Nero persecuted the Church. It was during this persecution that Peter and Paul were killed. In the first century, the Emperor Domitian also launched a fierce persecution against the Christians for refusing to sacrifice to him as a god. Peter was succeeded in Rome by Linus and the chain of succession has never been broken since the time of Peter to the present day (Alan Schreck, The compact history of the Catholic Church; (Bafldra, Bombay, St Pauls 1987, Page 23).

To talk about the Church as a servant, we have to know the mission of the Church as committed by Christ to the Church under the authority of the Vicar of Christ, the Pope. According to Monsignor Leonardo Z. Legaspi, O.P, this mission was committed by Christ to the entire Church under the authority of the Episcopal body and its head, the Roman Pontiff. For this purpose, the Holy Spirit was given to the Church…. the Bishops, Successors of the Apostles, who together with Peter’s successor, the Vicar of Christ and the visible head of the whole Church, direct the house of the living God (L.Z. Legaspi, the Church we love: (Manila, Us T. Printing office, P.142). The Episcopal college with its visible head, the Roman pontiff is responsible for the entire mission. For the individual dioceses, the Bishop is the Chief shepherd while the priests are his prudent collaborators. With the Priests, the Bishop forms the sacerdotal college who carries out this responsibility (L.Z. Legaspi, P. 142). 

The second Vatican council declares that the mission of the Church is the mission of Christ (Lumen Gentium 3). This mission is to inaugurate the kingdom of God on earth and prepare the people of God for eternal happiness in heaven. This would enable men and women share in the divine nature. This mission is to be directed by the Roman Pontiff the Vicar of Christ and successor of St. Peter at the universal level while the Bishop on the particular level as the local ordinary directs this mission on the diocesan level. The parish priest directs the parochial level in the parish. The Magisterium is the teaching office of the Church. This enables the Church to be faithful to the true teaching of Jesus Christ. The primary mission of the Church is the salvation of souls while the secondary mission is to enhance the temporal order. The missionary focus of the Church goes beyond her members to people of other religions. The Church sees good political governance as a mission to promote justice and peaceful co-existence in the society. With justice in the distribution of social amenities and temporal goods, the world would enjoy lasting security that is often threatened by the greed of some rulers. The Church highly encourages the lay faithful to take part in the political life of the nation. However, the religion of a political candidate does not matter to the Church if the candidate is credible. What the world yearns for today especially in Nigeria is a leader who loves God and humanity above selfish desires. 

Nigeria is rich in everything except good leadership. This is why religious leaders must remain the voice of the voiceless. They must avoid the temptation of being prophets only to the politicians from whom they hope to get material reward. We do not need to wait until we all accept the same theological perspective before we can work together. We can begin by working on the humanity that is common to all religions. This is the time to remind all who aspire to political leadership that they could do better by becoming true ambassadors of their different religions in 2019 and beyond. The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) believes that each member of the political class belongs to either of the religions in Nigeria that makes up NIREC. Hence it would not make sense for Christians to source for only a Christian President while the Muslims source for only a Muslim President. NIREC believes strongly that you are first a human being and a Nigerian. With this consciousness, you could be a better Christian or Muslim by imparting on the society the moral principles of your religion that forbids corruption, stealing of public funds, killings, rape, kidnapping and funding of all forms of criminal activities. If we cooperate with one another irrespective of our different divides, we can grow a better nation that would provide an enabling environment for the Church, Islam, ATR and other religions to serve humanity better. 

Fr. Cornelius Omonokhua is the Director of Mission and Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja ([email protected]; www.omonokhua.blogspot.com)