Parish Priest of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Gwagwalada, Abuja, Rev. Fr. Gabriel Ekpe, has condemned the traditional practice of making women swear on their dead husband’s corpses.
Mr Ekpe, during the inaugural Cultural and Feast Day celebration with a theme “Unity in diversity: A moment of celebration,” asserted that the practice was contrary to the teachings of the church.
He stressed the importance of embracing the positive aspects of African culture, such as respect for elders, hospitality, communal life, and reverence for the sacred, which had been integrated into the Christian message.
According to him, the church does not oppose culture, but rather seeks to integrate the beautiful aspects of African culture while discarding the negative ones.
The priest emphasised the importance of celebrating the different cultural identities in Nigeria, especially in view of contemporary times when culture was fading away.
He further highlighted Jesus Christ’s immersion in Jewish culture during his life, noting that Christ also challenged and corrected harmful cultural norms, such as retaliation.
He stated, “Jesus Christ himself was born into the Jewish culture and right from his childhood to his death, he moved according to the Jewish culture. We are told that his dedication was according to Jewish custom (Luke 2:22) and his burial was done following the Jewish burial custom (John 19: 40).
Chairman of the Cultural and Feast Day planning committee, Sylvia Inyang, noted that in Catholic terminology, the event is called “Enculturation” where the diversity of cultures were incorporated into the church and shared the good news of Jesus Christ in the society.
“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 said.
Other highlights of the event were the presentation of three award categories; platinum, diamond and gold to outstanding parishioners for their tremendous contributions to the parish growth.
