Partner Newspaper

A Partner Newspaper correspondence conducted an interview with Very Rev. Fr. Alexander Okoro; the National Chairman of Directors of Religious Education at their first conference seminar in St. Sebastian Catholic Cathedral, Ijebu-Ode on 26th January 2023. At this interview he made some revelations and suggested some solutions. Below is the full interview.

C: Partner Correspondence

P: Priest

C: Father we want to find out, how easy was it or how difficult for you to stage this conference after some years of lock down and insecurity in Nigeria and the world?

P: My brother it’s work of faith, the lockdown, especially and insecurity and COVID-19 tried but it could only destroy the body and not our faith, the faith is still there and after every other thing we are still marching along, it’s not so easy and a thing of faith is not easy, we either do it or we die, so that is where we are.

C: Congratulations for this hosting, so what is your impression about the general hosting and the responses from different dioceses who came here?

P: Well, you know to be frank with you, when the hosting right was given to Province of Lagos, when we heard it’s coming to Ijebu-Ode, my brother I was scared o because from my elementary idea of what we heard about Ijebu-Ode, it was associated with “juju”. Even my people asked, ‘Are you going to Ijebu-Ode?’, I said I’m going oh, St. Paul will say “to Rome I will go, but what awaits me I don’t know”. But coming here we met people, right from Bishop Francis Adesina who is also our Chairman of the Catechist Association of Nigeria, a very humble Bishop, very welcoming, what else do we look for? The parishioners and the assistants we saw since yesterday was very welcoming. So we are happy to be in Ijebu-Ode.

C: Thank you father, a pertinent issue is about our catechists and especially the decline in number of  volunteer and permanent catechists, what do you see or consider as being responsible for that particular decline and what are we doing to make it better?

P: I agree with you, one thing I say in my Diocese is, no priest can succeed without a catechist and for that work of evangelization to be carried out, the catechists are those who are on the ground. The priest is just there in the parish house on Sunday, preaching to the people, he goes to the people when there’s a sick-call but the catechist is the one always on ground. So the church, the Bishops have to revisit the treatment of the catechists. I must tell you, the Bishop of Owerri  Archdiocese gave me the free hand to formulate the salary structure I think would pay the catechists, so I graded them in A,B,C and gave to the Bishop and he approved. They are human beings; we need to treat them well. Not that they are priests but somebody who volunteered to do this work should not die empty-handed, we have to encourage them with their stipends. Even though there are stipends that come from Rome that doesn’t reach them but their stipends has to reach them and the priest working with them has to encourage them. During Christmas or Easter, priests have to celebrate the catechists with food items and money because they need it. It is when they get this type of thing they will be able to volunteer themselves.

C : So Father, we also realize apart from elementary catechism classes for many Catholics, immediately after their confirmation sacrament there is this gap between knowledge of their faith and their life generally, what can you say is responsible for this?

P: You see, when you get permanent catechists treat them well, give them what to do there won’t be that lack, the catechist would be there to catechize the people conscientize them. To be honest with you we are at war, all these people in the Pentecostal churches are Catholics but because they are not getting what they are supposed to get from the Catholic Church they run to the Pentecostal churches where pastors are full time talking to them. Many of our priests are just there uttering biases from the pulpit, which is not the end. We have to be wounded healers to these people, we have to be with them and know what they feel and what their needs are.

C: Lastly Father, thank you we want to ask you the last words to the people listening to you and watching you from all over the world as well

P: Well, they have to know that once you are a Christian especially once you are a Catholic, Jesus Christ did not use plural in the formation of His church, He said “Upon this rock I will build my church”. He has only one church and one church built on the rock. The rest are built on disobedience. So let us focus on Jesus Christ who is the rock.

C : Thank you father, may God bless you, I wish you success in your conference deliberation.

P: You are welcome