…Be Productive, Bishop Ezeokafor Exhorts Awka Diocesan Youths
By Mmaduabuchi Onwumelu
The Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, His Lordship, Most Reverend Paulinus Ezeokafor, on Friday, 19 December, celebrated Mass with Awka Diocesan Youths in commemoration of the World Youth Day Cross and Icon of Blessed Virgin Mary billed to hold in August 2026.
In his homily during the Concelebrated Eucharistic Celebration, Bishop Ezeokafor, who was represented by the Awka Diocesan Education Secretary, Rev. Fr. Maximum Okonkwo, charged the youths to use the period to be productive, steadfast and useful to themselves, family, Church and society at large, noting that the Cross symbolized Christ while the Icon represented the Blessed Mother Mary.
The Local Ordinary who stated that the youths remained a vital organ of the Church, noted that the Universal Church was devoting a lot in youth developments and wellbeing, adding that they were working very hard in channelling their energies towards the things of God.
Bishop Ezeokafor announced that that the Cross was received from Nnewi Diocese and would be taken to Ifitedunu where it would be taken to Aguleri Diocese and from there to Benin Province.
Speaking shortly after the Mass, the Principal Chaplain of NYD and the Manager of St. Michael’s Model Comprehensive Secondary School, Nimo, Reverend Father, Denis Nwabueze, said celebration was a quadrennial event, held every four years.
‘Let’s seize this opportunity to be part of this special celebration. Your presence will be a testament to your commitment to your faith, Parish, Deanery, Diocese and your personal growth,’ he said.
Reverend Father Nwabueze urged all youths not to miss this opportunity to be part of what he described as a historic moment. ‘The next celebration may be four years away, and we may not know what the future holds. Let’s make the most of this moment to encounter Christ, deepen our faith, and connect with fellow youths.
‘In 1984, at the end of the 1983 Holy Year of the Redemption at the Vatican, Pope St. John Paul 11 entrusted to the young people of the world a simple, twelve-foot wooden Cross, asking them to carry it across the world as a sign of love which Our Lord Jesus Christ has for mankind and to proclaim to everyone that only in Christ who died and is risen, is there salvation and redemption.
‘Since that day, carried by generous hands and loving hearts, the cross has made a long, uninterrupted pilgrimage across the continents to demonstrate, as Pope St. John Paul ll had said, that “the Cross walks with young people and young people walk with the Cross”. The cross is also known as; The Pilgrim Cross, The Jubilee Cross or The Youth Cross.
‘Since 2003, The Youth Cross has been accompanied by a copied ancient Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Child Jesus in her arms, known as “Salus Populi Romani”, and venerated as protectress of the Roman People. The icon was considered by some to be from the 8th Century and is housed in St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome.
‘Pope St. John Paul 11 entrusted this icon to the Youth, to be a sign of Mary’s Motherly presence to young people who are called like the Apostle John, to welcome her into their lives (John 19 vs 26-27),’ he concluded.
For his part, Mr. Joachim Anisiobi, the Coordinator, NYD Cross & Icon Movement, Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province, said the World Youth Day Cross and Icon reminded them of the two focal points of the message of Christianity: The incarnate and cradle of Jesus Christ who was born of Virgin Mary being celebrated on Christmas; The Cross on which Christ was crucified for mankind on Good Friday and the Paschal Mystery.
‘The Cross and Icon, therefore, are powerful symbols of the Joy and Suffering that we experience in our Christian Pilgrimage,’ he said.
Unveiling of the Cross and an Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as the presentation and reception by the Bishop, formed the highpoints of the event.
