The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria to initiate the hosting of the first National Catechetical Summit by the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), is to enhance the evangelization apostolate of all the faithful in the country; the Director of CSN Pastoral Affairs department, Rev. Fr. Ojaje Idoko has declared.
Fr. Idoko made this disclosure, during an exclusive interview with the Catholic News Service of Nigeria (CNSNig), in Abuja, while speaking on the preparations for the hosting of the summit in Abuja from November 27th to 30th; at the CSN Resource Centre, Durumi Abuja.
According to the CSN director, Catechesis is the bastion of the evangelization mission of the Church; and there is need for every faithful of the Church, irrespective of status or vocation to have a deep knowledge of the teachings and doctrine of the Church; to be able to reach out with the Good News of Christ within Nigeria and outside the country.
He remarked: “The concept or belief that the Catechetical Summit is for Catechists alone is an erroneous one. Rather, it is for all the faithful, especially the lay faithful who are the Church in the world.” He continued: “As Disciples of Christ, we are all expected to preach Christ to all and sundry and win more souls for Christ; but this cannot be done effectively, except we have the knowledge of the teachings of Christ and his Church; which is the message we are to carry into the nook and crannies of the world.”
Fr. Ojaje disclosed that bishops, priests, members of the different religious congregations (male and female) in the country, catechists, members of all the pious societies sodality groups like the Laity Council, CMO, CWO, Papal Knights, Knights and Ladies of St Mulumba and Knights of St. John International (KSJI) are expected to be represented at the programme.
Pointing out that the summit is also expected to come out with far reaching decisions on how to fashion a policy document on Catechesis for the Church in the country, Fr. Idoko added that, the present challenges facing the apostolate of the Church needs to be addressed in the context of the present day world.
The director disclosed that all participants are expected to pay Seven Thousand Naira as participation fee, for the four-day programme while each participant is to take care of his or her accommodation and other expenses, throughout the duration of the summit in Abuja. He however added that, the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), will assist people in ensuring that their stay in Abuja is conducive and memorable, throughout the duration of the programme.
