Nigeria: church commissions women lay ministers

Twelve women were among the 78 Catholic faithful commissioned recently as lay ministers by the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, in Nigeria, This Day, a local daily, reported. Commissioning the ministers last Thursday, Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja charged them to evangelise and spread the word of God to Christians and non-Christians alike, especially people living in rural areas. The 64 men and 12 women graduated from St Dominic Catholic School of Evangelisation, Gwagwalada, having trained under the tutelage of the Dominican Sisters. In his homily, the Abuja Vicar General Mgr Dominic Inyang asked the ministers to endeavour to be true apostles of Christ by keeping faith with the path they had chosen. He reminded them of the injunction of Jesus Christ to all faithful to become tools for spreading of the word of God to all corners of the world. The School Coordinator, Sr Judith Okoroji, said the world, especially Nigeria, had never been in dire need of the Gospel because "all that stares us in the face is the ungodly attitude of men and women who God created in his image and likeness." Source: CISA