Parish Priest of St. Paul’s Catholic Church Rev. Fr. Gabriel Ekpe – MSP, has condemned in strong terms what he termed the “wrong aspects” of African culture where women are made to swear on dead body when their husband dies, the practice of human sacrifice and idol worship, stressing that these are all shunned by the Church.
Fr. Ekpe made the call at the First Cultural and Feast Day celebration held at the church premises in Gwagwalada Abuja, with theme: “Unity in Diversity: A moment of celebration.
Ekpe harped on the need for promotion of the beautiful aspects of African culture such as respect for elders, hospitality, communal life, respect for the sacred among others to be upheld, disclosing that these aspects have all been integrated into the Christian message.
“The Church is not against culture. For instance, the beautiful aspects of our African culture such as respect for elders, hospitality, communal life, respect for the sacred etc have all been integrated into the Christian message whereas, the wrong aspects of our culture such as human sacrifice, idol worship, making a woman to swear on a dead body in the event of the husbands death etc are all shunned by the Church,” he stressed.
He emphasized the importance of celebrating the different cultural identities Nigeria is blessed with especially in contemporary times when culture is fading away due to the metropolitan nature of the church, adding that the church’s mission is “to inculturate(integrate) the beautiful aspects and acculturation(throw away) the bad ones.
According to him, Jesus Christ himself was born into the Jewish culture and from birth to his death grew through the culture, he however noted that Christ corrected the bad aspects of the Jewish culture like “an eye for an eye and tooth for tooth that contradicted the message of love which he brought.
The Parish Pries therefore called on Christians especially those who find themselves in the Africa soil to Africanize Christianity and Christianize Africanism.
“A man without culture is either a ghost or a beast” the Priest quoted the Greek Ancient Philosopher , Plato (427BCE-347BCE).
“Today’s event is a call to celebrate our identity and by extension, our unity, considering the metropolitan nature of our parish community.
“The mission of the church is to inculturate (integrate) the beautiful aspects of a cultural setting wherever she finds herself and to acculturate(throw away the bad ones) thereby, transforming the such culture,” he said.
Chairman of the Cultural and Feast Day planning committee Mrs. Sylvia Inyang, explained that in the Catholic terminology the event is called “Enculturation” where the diversity of cultures is incorporated into the church a d the good news of Jesus Christ is spread broadly in the society.
“This first ever cultural and feast day celebration since the creation of St. Paul’s Catholic Parish, Gwagwalada Abuja with theme “Unity in Diversity: A moment of celebration” is apt.
“A time when our dear country Nigeria is bedevilled with all forms of of insecurity ranging from kidnapping, banditry, terrorism and religious intolerance that suggests disintegration . It is our collective responsibility as a religious community and citizens to promote and pray for peace and unity in season and out of season following the example of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, ” she stated.
Highlight of the event was the presentation of three award categories; platinum, diamond and gold to outstanding parishioners for their tremendous contributions to the growth of the Parish.
