Catholic faithful want new diocese created out of Lagos Archdiocese

[MrVan]

Some Catholic faithful on Sunday urged the new Archbishop of Lagos, Alfred Martins, to create new dioceses from the present Lagos Archdiocese.

They made the appeal when the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) sought their expectations of the new Archbishop after his installation Mass as the fourth Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos.

The new Archbishop was installed at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos, by Archbishop Augustine Kasujja, the representative of Pope Benedict XVI, assisted by Anthony Cardinal Okogie.

Kasujja, in his remarks after the installation, had said that there were three million Catholics in Lagos Archdiocese going by the latest statistics submitted by the Archdiocese.

Mr Uche Nwokedi, a papal Knight of Saint Sylvester (KSS) of the Catholic Church, said that the Archbishop would soon unfold his plan of actions for the Archdiocese and the people of God with time.

Nwokedi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), admitted that there had been clamour by the faithful for the creation of more dioceses from the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos.

He, however, said that the Church had its rules, pointing out that the clamour must be in line with what was on ground.

Mr Christopher Nze, the President of the Catholic Artistes and Entertainers Association of Nigeria (CAEAN), said that Archbishop Martins should continue from where Anthony Cardinal Okogie had stopped, in both spiritual and physical developments of the Archdiocese.

Nze noted that the Cardinal had worked hard in his 39 years of episcopal mission in the Archdiocese to put it on the world map and ensure its growth and development.

He also urged the new Archbishop to support the activities of social communications as was done by his predecessor.

Mrs Anthonia Okonkwo urged the new Archbishop to be the voice of the voiceless like his predecessor in office and pay attention to the plight of the down-trodden in the society.

She also advised the new Archbishop to start the process that would see to the creation of more dioceses out of Lagos so that the work of evangelism would not be too much for one person.(NAN

Vanguard Nigeria