In separate declarations,
Nigerian Catholic Bishops and their leader Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan
have urged adherence to the rules of the church and resistance of moves to
introduce pop culture.
“The Church does not gain
anything by promoting a pop religion which accommodates every fad and whims
generated by the entertainment industry,” said the bishops, emphasizing the
significance of both Marian devotion and the observance of liturgical rubrics.
In Ghana, Onayekan said Pope
Francis did not change church teaching on the rules for receiving Communion,
but rather assured people who are in difficult situations that the church cares
for them and the mercy of God extends to them.
Onaiyekan spoke at Ghana’s
National Eucharistic Congress in Jasikan.
He said it was unfortunate that
pressure has mounted on the Catholic Church in some places to relax the rules
about the reception of holy Communion.
Such pressure, he said, can be
seen in efforts to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion
without an annulment of their marriage or without abstaining from sexual
relations with their new partners.
The age-old principles of the
unity and indissolubility of marriage cannot be compromised to accommodate
“modern trends,” he said.
“In a world going down the drain
through widespread moral laxity, the church of God cannot abdicate her
responsibility to uphold the high standards of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ,” Cardinal Onaiyekan told Catholics gathered for the congress.
The Nigerian bishops’ message
echoes that of Vatican Cardinal Robert Sarah, who lamented liturgical absuses
in his recent book The Power of Silence. “I deplore the long, noisy offertory
processions, embellished with endless dances, in some countries in Africa,” he
said.
“These processions give the
impression of being folklore displays, which distort the bloody sacrifice of
Christ on the Cross and separate us from the Eucharistic mystery; it ought to
be celebrated soberly, with recollection, because we too are immersed in his
death and offering to the Father.”
The bishops commended priests and
others in varying liturgical roles that make efforts toward obedience in regard
to liturgical rules and regulations.
“Liturgical worship is the
lifeblood that flows through the veins of the Church gathered as the body of
Christ,” the bishops said. “When it is contaminated or diluted, the body of
Christ suffers in its authentic identity.”
They urged those performing in
liturgical roles to “study well the Church’s instruction on Liturgical worship
and humbly adhere to them in deference to the Holy Spirit …”
The bishops expressed grief and
sympathy with those affected by the August 6 mass murder at St. Philip Catholic
Church, Ozubulu, Anambra State, during Sunday Mass, and regret over resurgence
of Islamic terror group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria.
They also decried the
degeneration of morals in society.
They cited in part “The
aggressive assault of new age, decadent ideologies, particularly from the
Western world threaten to overwhelm our cultural and spiritual values,” and
“so-called Comprehensive Sexuality Education and dubious Maternal Health
procedures” in the education sector.
“Government should not spend
public money on the proliferation of artificial contraceptive methods to the
neglect of basic infrastructure and the grassroots health needs of our people,”
they said.
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I hope all this one man so call new generation churches are listening and hearing. The so call one man new generation churches are worst on this , I call them business centers and the only thing they know and preach about is more members . They don't talk about sin and righteousness
ReplyDeleteI hope Mr Fr Mbaka, Fr Obayi and a host of their likes are listening...with all the proliferation of dubious ministries and all sorts of ideology which can be anything but Catholic. It is a shame! It is sad! The Bishops has to do more to stop this trend.
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