AT LAST, AHIARA CATHOLIC DIOCESE GETS SUBSTANTIVE BISHOP

AT LAST, AHIARA CATHOLIC DIOCESE GETS SUBSTANTIVE BISHOP

The Holy Father, Pope Francis, has appointed Bishop Simeon Okezuo Nwobi, as the substantive Bishop for the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara, Imo State.

This was contained in a statement from the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) released in Abuja, on Friday.

Ahiara Diocese was created in 1987, with Monsignor Victor Adibe Chikwe as its first bishop. Bishop Chikwe died in 1910, and the now Peter Cardinal Okpalaeke, Bishop of Ekwulobia, appointed as his replacement. This was however reisted by the people of the diocese, who insisted on having a son of the soil as their bishop.

That situation put the diocese on collision course with the Vatican, who appointed the former Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onayikan as its administrator. For more than five years, Ahiara Diocese had no substantive Bishop.

Bishop Nwobi, until this elevation, was on the 14th October, 2023, appointed Titular Bishop of Rusgunie and Auxiliary Bishop of the Apostolic Administrator sede vacante of Ahiara (Nigeria), and received his episcopal consecration on the 19th of December, 2023.

Bishop Simeon Nwobi, was born on 25th March, 1960, in Eziama Oparanadim Ekwereazu, in the Diocese of Ahiara. After joining the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Claretians), he undertook studies in Philosophy at the Claretian Institute of Philosophy Maryland, Nedeke, and later in Theology at Bigard Memorial Seminary in Enugu.

He made his Perpetual Profession on 11th September, 1988, and was ordained a Priest on 21st July, 1990, for his congregation.

He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) in Enugu, a Licentiate in Missiology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

He has held the following positions: Parish Priest at St. Anthony’s in Igbo-Ora (1990-1992); Bursar at Claretian Theology in Enugu (1992-1997); Director of the Spirituality Department at Claretian Institute of Philosophy Maryland, Nedeke (1999-2000); Professor at Bigard Memorial Seminary in Enugu (2000-2009);He was also Prefect of Apostolate at the Claretian Provincial Curia in New Owerri (2005-2010); Parish Priest at St. Paul’s in Nekede (2006-2010); and Pastor at St. Paul’s in Enugu (2006-2010). Paul in Nekede (2006-2010); Provincial of the Eastern Province of Nigeria of the Missionaries Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (2010-2022).