Requiem Mass: Catholic Archdiocese Celebrates Pope Francis, Urges Nigerian Leaders To Emulate Humble Lifestyle

By Frederick Peters, KADUNA.

NEWSDAILYNIGERIA: The Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, Most Rev. Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso has on Friday urged Nigerian leaders and all Christians to emulate the humble life style of Pope Francis, who according to him lived a life of humility and care for the marginalized in the society .

Speaking to Journalists shortly after the Requiem Mass at St Joseph’s Cathedral the Archbishop said “he lived very closely to the way Jesus Christ lived and that’s why Christ identifies with the poor, he identified with those at the peripheral and those who feel abandoned. This is something we must learn as leaders and followers of Jesus Christ,” he said.

He maintained that, “as we celebrate this requiem Mass for the Pope to remember him, I will like to say Pope Francis actually lived up to the name of the Pope, Pontifex, which means bridge builder, every Pope is a bridge builder that is why he is called the Supreme Pontiff. There are a lot of legacies he left behind for us as a Church, I pray the Church will be able to carry them through.

” He worked very seriously for an inclusive Church. Jesus Christ came for everybody sinners and saints alike and that’s why he prayed more on the mercy of God, God’s mercy excludes nobody and I think this is point he emphasized and decided to leave in simplicity, his car Chinkwe chento is the lowest grade of car in Italy.”

He said ” given the way pope Francis lived his life and like I said as Africans when God has blessed somebody with that kind of long life 88years is no joke and even the way he lived his life. So we are here to thank God for his life and to celebrate it, to thank him for the gift of this wonderful man, this rare bride of the human being that he has given us as a leader of the Catholic Church. It has been wonderful but yes, death is death, it said that your father or loved one can never live long enough therefore even if they lived 200 years when they die we feel the pain, so he couldn’t have lived long enough with us given what he did but we thank God for that.

” So like I said it’s a day primarily to thank God for his life and so we are here to do just that and to pray for him, he led us in the Eucharist so we are gathered today to do just that for him, tomorrow he will be buried so we are gathered hear as a particular church of Kaduna to honor him, to pray for him and to commit his soul into the hands of the Lord,” Ndagoso stressed.

Speaking further on the qualification of Nigerian Cardinals in the election of a new Pope, ” all the Cardinals except one Cardinal Peter Okpalake who is just in his fifties is qualified, but for the other Cardinals like Arinze who is in Rome, Cardinal Onaiyekan, Cardinal Anthony Okojie if they are able they can participate in the discussions in Rome, there will be days of discussion as regards the kind of Pope we want at this time, but when it comes to the real elections because they are over Eighty non of them can vote and be voted for” he said.

On whether there is a vacuum in the Catholic Church as it is now, the Archbishop said “as it is now you saw the ceremony that took place the day he was confirmed dead they declared sede-vacante they went and sealed his apartment where he lived and declaring that Pope and leader of the Church is dead and therefore there’s a vacant seat, tomorrow he will be buried and after the burial tomorrow, the next nine days there will be a period of mourning and then after the period of mourning, the process of electing a new leader will commence, so yes, there is interregnum, there is a sede-vacante meaning that the seat is empty. So now it’s the team of the college of cardinals that is now running the affairs of the Church so no major decisions will be taken, the normal ordinary running of the Church will continue.”

While commending the Archbishop and Diocese for a successful Requiem Mass in honor of Pope Francis, the Parish Priest of our Lady Queen of Apostles Catholic Church, and Dean Kaduna North Deanery, Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Okelue, said ” it’s so beautiful, it’s a testament to the character of the Church, that the church is One, Holy, Apostolic and the church is Catholic, every where across the world Parishes, Dioceses are celebrating Masses for our Holy Father, in fact he’s our Father, our universal Father, and therefore, we are mourning but not like people who do not have hope, so I want to thank God that in our Archdiocese we are also keying in to what is happening universally,

” The Pope is exemplary of leadership, he’s someone who has said and demonstrated that the Shepherd should smell like the sheep, this is a Pope who actually had the poor at heart, and he worked closely with the poor, you see him embracing people who are sick, children of autism and the rest, and so it’s a practical demonstration of a Shepherd smelling like the sheep, so if leaders can just do that, like Jesus will say if you want to be great, you have to be a servant; and so, he’s such a leading light in regard to leadership universally.” he reiterated.

On her part, the President of Catholic Women Organisation, (CWO) St Joseph Cathedral, Kaduna, Mrs Juliana Mulokwu, said ” what we did today (Requiem Mass) it’s an honour given him today by the Archbishop, all the priests, Religious and Laity of our archdiocese, and we celebrated him because he was a good Man and he lived a very good life and lived an exemplary life, he loves charity, he loved helping the poor, we’ve celebrated a Man worthy of emulation today in Kaduna Archdiocese, and all the priests turned out enmasse,

” in fact the reading of message from Rome, described more the qualities of Pope Francis more than what we know, because there were things and lives he touched which we didn’t know, which were read out at the altar today: he is a wonderful Man, Peaceful Man, and even when he went for his Pastoral visits he didn’t go to only Catholic Countries, he went to other countries that are not Catholic and changed so many people and brought them to God, so he’ was a good Man, a great Man and we celebrate him, and may his soul rest in peace” she added.