FUNERAL MASS FOR OWO MESSACRE BY THE SEMINARY COMMUNITY

            Indeed, with the myriad problems that bedevil Nigeria, one can categorically say that our country is standing askew. With how the term ‘unknown gunmen’ threatens with permanence, and with how many deaths masterminded by them are littered in the news, it is clear that our country is teetering on the brink of collapse. For every well-meaning Nigerian, the 5^th of June 2022 would forever be couched with sorrow and grief. We could not have been primed for the enormity of what happened that day. Unknown gunmen stormed a church (Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo Ondo, state) and on their whims opened fire at innocent citizens killing dozens of people and permanently altering the lives of their relatives. The entire nation is in grief, and this grief does not elude our Seminary. Harrowed as we are of the death of our fellow Christians, we turn to God, the only harbor, the haven in these terrible times. The Seminary community congregated at the Seminary chapel on the 17^th of June 2022 to lay down our collective grief at God’s altar with a Sung Vespers at 7pm for the peaceful repose of the souls of those who lost their lives at the Owo massacre, especially the parents of one of our students, Mr and Mrs Onouha Chukwudi, for speedy recovery of those who nurse injuries obtained from the sporadic shootings, and for succor for those who are bereaved. The colossal loss at the massacre is one that is beyond us, as we are arrested by fear and uncertainty, but as Christians we know all is not lost. The Seminary community on Saturday 18^th of June at 6:30 am, had a requiem mass for the peaceful repose of the departed souls of the victims of the massacre. May the souls of the all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace! Amen.