By Chioma Ndife
The supreme Catholic Pontiff, His Holiness Pope Francis, has conferred papal blessings to the Clan Chief of Amata in Adazi-Nnukwu Community, Anaocha LGA, Anambra State, Sir Chief Chike Ezimora and his wife, Lady Obiageli.
Pope Francis who was represented by Bishop Peter Ebelechukwu Okpaleke, conferred the papal blessings to Chief Chike and Iyom Obiageli Ezimora on Sunday, December 29, 2019, at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, Adazi-Nnukwu, during the 50th wedding Anniversary and renewal of marriage vows of the couple.
Fides gathered that the union between the celebrants was blessed with seven children and 18 grandchildren.
Leading in the 50th wedding anniversary mass which coincided with the Holy Family Sunday, Bishop Okpaleke enumerated the responsibilities that God had bestowed on every family member and noted that it was important for all members of the family to carry out their assigned responsibilities judiciously.
In his homily, Bishop Okpaleke advised fathers on the need to respect, love and guild every member of their family, irrespective of the position they were placed in life. He maintained that such respect created room for bonding within the members, as well as promoting peaceful co-existence. He charged fathers to always bear in mind that the home could never be compared to anything on earth and to desist from creating fear, saying that such negatively affected them at old age.
Speaking to the mothers, the Catholic prelate said wives should accord great respect to their husbands and cover up their husband’s inadequacies even when they were the family breadwinners. He said that respect should be sacrosanct for everyone in all families, saying that respect had a reciprocal effect.
He exhorted the jubilarians to continue with the love which had kept them together for the past 50 years they had been in marriage, irrespective of the storms and challenges and urged the children to carry on with the training which the parents had given them during their formative years.
Chief Chike Ezimora described marriage as getting ready to face difficulties and some enjoyment. He said people who saw marriage as only for enjoyment got disappointed and disillusioned. He said he was able to clock 50 years in marriage because he was ready to face the difficulties and enjoyment that came with marriage when he opted for it.
For her part, Iyom Obiageli Ezimora noted that their marriage had mostly been a happy union and thanked God for giving them the grace to survive the various ups and downs which their marriage encountered at various points in time. She noted that their children had all grown and attained some degree of success in various fields of life.
The golden anniversary of steadfast love between Chief Chike and Iyom Obiageli Ezimora attracted various personalities from all walks of life, both from Adazi-Nnukwu Community and beyond Anambra State as they shared in the joy of the couple.
