The Association of Papal Knights and Medalists in Nigeria, have backed the position of the Catholic Bishops Confrence Of Nigeria, CBCN on papal document “Fiducia supplicans” and the state of the nation, describing the situation as worrisome.
This is contained in a report presented by the President of the Association Of Papal Knights and Medalists , Sir Stephen Adehi, SAN, during the conference of the bishops held between 12th to 18th Febuary, 2024 in Abuja.
Sir Adehi described as horrible the current State of hunger, unemployment, hardship, insecurity and high cost of living in the country.
Sir Steve Adehi SAN, Knight Commander of Saint Pope Sylvester stated in the report to the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria that many families are facing serious challenges which are of concern to the Knights.
The papal Knights in the report, condemned in strong terms what it described as the “senseless killings of innocent Nigerians in Plateau State during the festive period, saying “the killings, bombings and brutalization seems to be a re-occurring decimal during all christian celebrations in the country for the past 7-10 years.”
According to him, with the sad occurrence, Christians have become endangered species in the country and no serious effort is put in place to put a stop to the insecurity.
Sir Adehi stated that the recent spate of kidnappings in the Nations Capital has worsened the issue of insecurity in the Country as people are now being kidnapped right inside their homes.
He noted that the problem of unknown gunmen is still ravaging the South East and the nation’s hospitals cannot compare with consulting rooms elsewhere.
The Group also condemned the rate of Police hostilities and unfriendly acts, pointing out that unemployment has continued to rise on a daily basis with the Naira losing value on daily basis.
On the recent outburst that greeted a statement credited to the Holy Father, the Pope on blessing of same sex couples in the church, the Papal Knights appreciated the Catholic bishops for their position taken to effectively educate Nigerians for what the Pope meant before he was quoted out of the context.
The Papal Knights noted that the position of the Church is that marriage will exist only between a man and woman and it stands with the church on this as promoter of pro life.
“Both the Holy Scriptures and the Marriage Act define marriage as union between man and woman for life to the exclusion of all others. There is no contemplation of marriage between man and man or woman and woman. We therefore strongly support the position of the Conference on the recent document of the Holy Father’ fiducia supplicans’’.
On its contribution to physical infrastructural development in the church, Sir Adehi reported to the bishops’ conference that the papal knights and medalists association association has contributed to the building of the library at the Veritas University of Nigeria
In his words: “We continue to support various charitable causes within and outside the Church. I am proud to mention once more that we completed the VUNA E. Library at the Veritas University and handed it over to the school late last year. The project cost us the sum of N103,000,000 (One Hundred Three Million Naira only). However, we intend to continue doing more, not minding the economic situation, the church fathers said they will continue to support the church in many ways.
As part of their contribution to pastoral growth within the church, the association offered to support the training and formation of seminarians across the three regions in Nigeria.
“We have the intention of doing big things but we are few and the resources limited. Pending when we recover to do big things, we have decided to support the training Seminarians in the various provinces. Because resources are lean we are grouping the efforts along regional lines. We are giving a total support in the sum of N6,300,000 (Six Million Three Hundred Thousand Naira Only) to be shared by the three (3) Regions”
They appreciated the Pope for the creation of Katsina Diocese and various elevations, Appointments, Anniversaries and Jubilees since the last Conference of the bishops.
