138 years ago, on 20 November 1885, the Holy Ghost Fathers missionaries arrived in Southern Nigeria. Their first port of arrival was Akassa in the Bayelsa state. They were 4 missionaries in all: Fr. Joseph Lutz (32 years old), Fr.…
Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of all saints. This means all those who have found their way to heaven, irrespective of their beliefs, nationality, colour, or language, whether known or unknown, are celebrated today. The origin of All…
On 31 October 1517, the then Catholic [Augustinian] monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of All Saints’ Church and other churches in Wittenberg, Germany. He detailed the areas he thought needed change in the church. This…
Exactly 22 years ago, on the evening of October 31, 2002, Bishop Mark Unegbu, who was the Catholic bishop of Owerri from 1970 to 1993, departed from us. I still vividly remember that evening when the news was broken to…
“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are…
As Ottoman decided to conquer Europe in the 16th century, on 7 October 1571, the Holy League, a coalition of southern European Catholics, waged a wăr against the powerful Ottoman ărmy in the Battle of Lepanto. Knowing that the Ottoman…
God does not need your money. When you pay tithe or give an offering, you are supporting the livelihood of the religious personnel, the maintenance of the church, and the church’s charity services, if any. To do this as a…
The truth of the matter is that things that have to do with the 3 basic needs of nature—food, housing, and clothing are not determined by religious principles or ordinances but by socio-economic realities on the ground. Tithe or offering…
In 1945, a year after his priestly ordination, Fr. Mark Unegbu was posted as parish priest to Dunukofia to replace Fr. Iwene Tansi, who later left to England to join the monastic life. In Dunukofia parish, one of the natives,…
Have you heard of the curse of Ham? This hypothesis or belief is derived from the erroneous interpretation of the book of Genesis 9: 20 – 27. The text reads: “Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a…
