THE INAUGURATION OF THE 2022/2023 ACADEMIC/FORMATION SESSION

As customary to the beginning of every Formation/Academic Session, the Seminary community carried out the Inaugural ceremonies to kick-start the new session. The ceremonies were in two-fold, namely: The Inaugural Mass and the Inaugural lecture. 

The Inaugural Mass was an avenue to invoke the Holy Spirit to pilot the affairs of the new session. This votive Mass of the Holy Spirit was celebrated in the Seminary Chapel and presided over by the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Ibadan, Most Rev. Gabriel ’Leke Abegunrin who also doubles as the Chairman of the Seminary Commission. In attendance were priests from Sister-houses of formation, Religious Sisters and the non-academic staff of the Seminary. During the course of the Mass, the formators renewed their oaths of sincere commitment to Christ, the Church and to formation. Shortly before the Mass came to its terminus, the 2022/2023 Formation/Academic Session was officially declared open by the Archbishop.

The latter part of the Inauguration ceremonies was the Inaugural lecture, themed: “Made Like God and formed for Men: The Royal Human Person in the Cynosure of Priestly Formation.” The Inaugural lecture was delivered by one of the Seminary’s formators- Fr. Francis Adelabu and moderated by the Vice Rector- Fr. Anthony Igbekele. Fr Adelabu titled his lecture: "The Concept of Imago Dei in Genesis 1:26: Implications for Formation to the Sacred Priesthood." He took of by shedding illumination on the concept of Imago Dei, bringing to the fore, the nuances present in the various translations, and the Biblical and Post-Biblical analysis of the concept. With this foregrounding, Fr Adelabu went on to make overt, the implications of the concept of "Imago Dei" for formation to the Priesthood which include values such as dignity, self-respect, fraternity etc. He urged all present to recognize the image of God in others as it is a step in creating the kind of world that we ardently desire.