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The parishioners of St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, Fegge, Onitsha, Anambra State, recently celebrated the achievements of the church 12 years after its designation as a parish. The church was carved out of St. Michael’s Parish on November 29, 2006.
Parishioners rolled out the drums, in particular, for the dedication of its magnificent church edifice by the Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Reverend Valerian Okeke.
More than 50 priests from the diocese, three Hungarians on a medical mission to the archdiocese, as well as Knights of the Church were in attendance at the event.
In his homily during the building’s dedication, Archbishop Okeke harped on the essence of giving all to God without reservations.
He noted that anything dedicated to God automatically relinquishes human or personal ownership forever. He said the mother church holds church dedication so highly hence the reason such functions remain the exclusive duty of the Bishop.
The cleric said, no matter how highly engaged a Bishop might be, he could not delegate the duty of church dedication to a priest but could only delegate a fellow Bishop, if by any means he is not available.
He said the business of church dedication was also done mostly on Sundays when people can attend the ceremony in greater numbers.
Describing it is a solemn assembly with many spiritual benefits, he also informed the congregation that any church, once dedicated, requires special permission from the Bishop in writing before any major repair works can be done in that church while there must be rededication after completing such repair works.
The archbishop, after performing the blessing and anointing of the altar, lighting of candles across different walls of the church and invocation of the saints, among other dedication rituals, prayed that everyone that comes into the church for prayers would never go away unanswered.
He also thanked the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Mike Okagbue, the resident priest, Rev. Fr. Anthony Chidozie, and the parishioners for their efforts in the service of God and for completing the church building four years after the foundation stone was laid on September 19, 2014.
The Christian community of St. Dominic’s Parish, in an address presented by the secretary of the Parish Council, Nonso Orakwe, extolled the virtues of Archbishop Okeke, noting that his prayers as well as moral and financial support were a great source of sustenance and growth in the parish.
They noted that the church had also recorded many tangible and intangible achievements within the period of its elevation to a parish.
“The progress of the parish is not only structural, it is also spiritual and we wish to place on record that, within the period of creating the parish, about 3,085 people have been baptised, about 608 people received the first holy communion, about 1,026 have received the sacrament of confirmation, about 368 couples have wedded, about 42 people converted to the Catholic faith, over 506 people have received sacrament of anointing of the sick.
“We have also purchased land for the permanent Father’s House, organised retreats, leadership seminars and symposia for the statutory bodies, societies, communities and zones. We are happy to announce that our statutory bodies have participated in zonal, regional and archdiocesan competitions and made us proud,” they stated.
The parish priest, Fr. Michael Okagbue, told Daily Sun that God has been faithful since he took over the leadership of the church from his predecessor, Rev. Fr. Ernest Ezewuzie, on October 19, 2014.
He noted that, through the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit and fervent prayers, he has ministered to the spiritual and developmental needs of the parish and the parishioners and would keep on pressing further without wavering.
He said the parish would organise more seminars and crusades for the spiritual development of parishioners and different statutory bodies in the parish. He attributed the success recorded so far to the grace of God and cooperation of the people.
“We have taken up some gigantic projects in the midst of economic hardship. We are people of faith here, that is why we go by the slogan ‘St. Dominic, we shall never lack.’ The grace of God and the cooperation of the people have seen us through. Deploying management skills as well made it come to pass,” he said.
Chairman of the Dedication Planning Committee, Mr. Francis Eze-Nonyelum, noted that, at a stage, the committee thought that it would not be possible to meet the already stipulated date for the dedication. He said the challenge was, however, overcome.
“Financially, the parishioners have done their best. The parish priest is also very hardworking, and he had to deploy his personal contacts to achieve this. It was the archbishop that gave us the date for the dedication and we rallied round to make it a success. The reward for good work is more work, I encourage our parishioners to still look ahead for further projects,” he said.
