Utilización de la función Detector traslado

September 1885.78 The two Brothers Hermas Huck and John Jacob of Gotheau, aged 20 and 28 respectively, made their religious professions in 1885.79 They had a well-defined objective-to plant the catholic Faith in Southern-Eastern Nigeria, at that time referred to as the Lower Niger.80 In fact, they were all young men in their prime, deliberately picked for a hazardous and dangerous enterprise. It really proved to be so or even worse than they expected.

They travelled through Liverpool and on Friday, 20 November 1885, they arrived Akassa, where they have reckoned they would embark another boat to go up stream until Lokoja but they met a problem that later resulted into a blessing as one Captain Christian, an agent of the Royal Niger Company81 denied them a free passage down to Lokoja their definite destination on the pretext that they were unknown passengers and had no recommendation or letter of any kind from the direction of London. That unfriendly and unwelcoming attitude left these missionaries disappointed but not discouraged. It only altered their plan hence their original intention for the evangelization in Lower Niger was to settle at Lokoja and from there, move down to the communities bordering on the Atlantic Ocean. This obstacle should already have been envisaged from the letter Crowther wrote on the 2 March, 1863 urging the CMS and the British Consul to get the British cotton merchants interested in the Niger trade:

The natives (i.e. Lower Niger) know no other European nation in that river but the English, who have explored it, prepared the people to call forth the vast resources of the country and who ought also to reap them as they are now ready to be bought of the people. I have heard with some solicitude by a letter from England, that the French, had an eye to the Niger, which I am inclined to believe; and if decided steps are not taken by the English

78 _{Journal of An Expedition up the Niger and Tshadda Rivers, In Ozigboh, Ikenga R.A, Roman Catholicism in South}

Eastern Nigeria, op. cit., p.41

79_{Ozigboh, Ikenga R.A, Roman Catholicism in South Eastern Nigeria, Ibid}

80

Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore, Africa since 1800, In Obi C.A etc (ed.), op. cit., p.11

81 _{The Royal Niger Company (N.R.C.) was the commercial body that took monopoly of European Trade with the natives at}

the coasts in 1886bby a charter but withdrew from being Agents in 1900 as Britain took over control totally through governors and administrators.

Government to occupy the Niger (,) I am afraid the French will step in on a sudden and occupy it in the same or like ways as they have done Porto Novo.82

This letter was written twenty-two years earlier before the arrival of Father Lutz and his companions to Lower Niger. Now, in this case, should we say that Father Lutz was the architect of their problem? If we say so, the truth may not be far-fetched. This is because he exposed himself during their stopover in London. It was here that he approached the London ‘agent’ of the United African Company, the English Company then in control of trade on the Niger, possibly for further informations.83 We have to remember that in actual fact, French Companies on the Niger had sold out to the United African Company (later Royal Niger Company) by August 1884 and it was one of the representatives of this Royal Niger Company, Mr George Goldie Taubman that Father Lutz approached for a piece of information in London, who denied them passage. But no blame for Fr Lutz as he did this with the purest of motives.

Nevertheless, Lutz with his team never lost hope by this initial drawback; rather, by the next day Father Lutz led his party to Brass, the next possible port of call before ascending the Niger. Providentially, at Brass, the Missionaries met with unforgettably, better treatment and favour that gave birth to Catholicism in Igboland. In fact God works in ways that are not always clear to man. On arrival at Brass on Saturday 21 November 1885, providence rewarded them. They sought for and obtained, not only all the assistance they could wish for, but the hospitality of an accommodating and obliging protestant trader of English origin, a certain Mr Charles Townsend84, who had good memories of his acquaintanceship with a Catholic Bishop in Gabon. He not only welcomed these missionaries into his house but noted their plight, and immediately offered them his motor-boat for a voyage of exploration. He not only received them with

CMS: CA3/04(a), Crowther to H:S. Freeman, In Ekechi, F.K., Missionary Enterprise & Rivalry in Igboland 1857-1914, op. cit., p. 40

83_{Nnabuife, F.C, The History of the Catholic Church in Eastern Nigeria 1885-1905, op. cit., p.96}

unreserved cordiality but with his forty employees formed the congregation during the first Holy Mass which the missionaries celebrated on Nigeria soil.85

Four days after their arrival at Mr Charles Townsend’s base, the Missionaries have postponed their original plan of proceeding to Igbebe at the confluence of the Niger and the Benue. Obviously they had been convinced by Mr Charles Townsend that Onitsha would be a good place to start, although the Protestants86 had long established there...and consequently went further than mere persuasion; he offered to bring them to Onitsha with his out-of-date motor boat to introduce them to the King.87 In fact, the warm reception they received from Mr Charles Townsend gave them the conviction to trust his suggestions as sincere.

Then the two priests left for the hinterland, sailing up-river with Mr Townsend. The two brothers and their 70-piece luggage were left at Brass. It was an extremely stressful journey. However, by the afternoon of December 5, 1885, they arrived their destination and Mr Charles Townsend presented them to the King who received them in a most excellent way, expressed his contentment at having them in his country and granted them a piece of land that he had previously assigned to the CMS (Church Missionary Society)88 for four years. Father Lutz wanted an uncontested land but the King did not share his apprehension. “Go and see Bishop Crowther, ‘the King advised, “and everything will be arranged,” According to Roman Catholic accounts the bishop was contacted, and he replied: “I acquired the land for the cause of God; take it.”89

In fact, this is an answered prayer to Taylor,90 after twenty-eight years the request was

Obi C.A etc. (ed.), op. cit., p.12

86 _{The establishment of a CMS mission (Church Missionary Society) on the Niger really began in 1887}

87_{Nnabuife, F.C, op. cit., p.100}

88

Ekechi, F.K., Missionary Enterprise & Rivalry in Igboland 1857-1914, op. cit., pp. 73-74

89 _{Ibid 74}

90 _{John Christopher Taylor was born around the year 1815 in Sierra Leone of Igbo parents and had earlier been sold}

into slavery from the Igbo country of present Nigeria, but were later rescued and settled with other freed slaves in Sierra Leone. He was tremendously influenced by its Christian environment which eventually culminated in the

made. A protestant missionary on the Lower Niger, who in 1857 realizing the enormity of work involved prayed thus: “Merciful God, raise up more of thy faithful servants from whatever section of the Church of Christ, to engage more effectually in a grand spiritual welfare” of the Igbo people.91

Father Lutz with his team was the first missionary Catholic team to come to Onitsha and settle in Igboland on the eastern side of the Niger. That was after nearly thirty years the Protestant missions, especially the CMS, maintained an unchallenged missionary influence on the Lower Niger. This warm reception is not unassociated with selfish interest. Onitsha from the time of the arrival of CMS missionaries was at war with her neighbours and “intensely competitive in the pursuit of wealth and power.”92

Therefore, the idea behind accepting the missionaries is not unassociated with the spirit of competition, emulation and rivalry. Ekechi affirms that the chiefs to a large extent patronized missionary work in their districts partly because of the material benefits which they expected from the missionaries, and partly because it was fashionable to have missionaries and traders in one’s town as a sign of sophistication.93

This is true since majority of the Chiefs never embraced Christianity.

On the other side of the coin, outside the persuasion and convictions of Mr. Charles Townsend; Father Lutz considered also their own interest and safety before choosing Onitsha as their base. He made some inquiries all along the coasts and at the few scattered trading establishments on the suitability of Igbebe and had come to the conclusion that Onitsha offered

ordained ministry of the church. It was under his leadership that the first Christian mission in Igboland was established at Onitsha, in 1857. (cfhttp://www.dacb.org/stories/nigeria/taylor_jc3.html)

91_{Cf Samuel Crowther and John C.Taylor, The Gospel on the Banks of the Niger,1857-1859 in In Ekechi, F.K.,}

Missionary Enterprise & Rivalry in Igboland 1857-1914, p.70

92_{Cf John E. Flint, Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria, In Ekechi, F.K., Missionary Enterprise & Rivalry}

in Igboland 1857-1914, p.7

more advantages than the former.94 Also Onitsha has a ‘pagan’ population which is the raw materials any missionary need for his work. The staggering populations of 8,000 to 10,000 and even 15,000 people; made Onitsha and its neighboring villages “a field very fertile in souls.”95

Igbebe then being a predominantly moslem domain, would possibly expose them to certain death through exposure since it was most likely that they would be deprived of a comfortable house such as was at their disposal at Onitsha, a comfort their wearied limbs needed most at that time.96 Other added advantages are that Onitsha “appeared to afford better communication facilities with the regions in the north and with other Igbo districts, and it was the best gateway to all the towns in Igboland.97 Over and above all these reasons, Onitsha was ideal for the new - comers. Its daily Market offered them the facility of procuring provisions especially livestocks and yams.98 Onitsha then was one of the greatest centers of commerce along the west coast of Africa. Already from 1870s, Onitsha, to a large extent, became the commercial nerve Centre of the palm oil revolution. Many commercial firms moved from the Delta to Onitsha where merchants expected “certain and immediate returns for a moderate investment of capital.”99

In the opinion of Baikie, therefore, Onitsha was the most strategic trading nucleus on the Niger River.100 Till date, Onitsha has maintained its economic importance as the Onitsha Main Market is reputed to be largest market in West Africa.

The origin of Catholicism in Igboland is a typical example of the mustard seed in the Bible (Lk 13:18-19). It is really rare, in the existence of human history to record such unquantifiable

95

Ibid., 109-110

96 _{Ibid., 110}

97_{Ekechi, F.K., Missionary Enterprise & Rivalry in Igboland 1857-1914, op. cit., p.8}

98

Ibid 111

99 _{Cf. F.O. 84/1351, Simpson to Granville Confidential, 21 November 1871, In F.K. Ekechi., Missionary Enterprise &}

Rivalry in Igboland 1857-1914, op. cit., p.49

success within such period of time. A mission that began with only two priests and two religious brothers. A journey in which the Congregation for the first Holy Mass were not up to fifty persons. These missionaries came with nothing, although the King of Onitsha welcomed them and gave them land; there was nothing on the ground. The coast was disease infested, the people were all still pagans; literacy was at zero point; the Royal Niger Company had established a trading post at Onitsha, antagonizing the local people with the “white race” by buying slaves and intimidating the people. In actual fact, they had nothing except a message to deliver, a strong will to work, faith and trust in God, and love for the people. They struggled and toiled for this mission which they bequeathed to us, a great heritage.

From these spiritual powers, the Old Onitsha diocese is now made up of three Ecclesiastical provinces namely Onitsha (Abakaliki, Awka, Nsukka, Enugu, Awgu, and Nnewi dioceses), Owerri (Umuahia, Orlu, Okigwe, and Ahiara and Aba diocese) and Calabar (Ogoja, Ikot Ekpene, Port Harcourt and Uyo dioceses) together made up of eighteen (18) dioceses. At the moment what used to be Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province has twenty-one (21) living bishops, over one thousand, six hundred Catholic priests and millions of catholic faithful.101

This Catholic Church in Igboland was not established in a platter of gold. We have to remember that West Africa in which Igboland is inclusive was then regarded as “a white man’s grave” and indeed that is precisely what it soon proved to be. The Missionaries came to Nigeria without a hope of ever seeing their native land again. They all died young, dying almost as they arrived. Brother John fell sick a few days after landing, and within two weeks he was dead. When he was buried on 18th January, 1886, only Father Lutz was strong enough to follow him to his last resting place. Brother Hermas lay dying, and Father Horne showed all the signs of sleeping sickness.102 With the exception of Father Lutz whose immune system has already adapted to African soil because he worked as a missionary in Sierra Leone for over ten years before he was appointed to this new team to Eastern Nigeria, nobody else survived from this team. But one

101 _{Valerian M. Okeke, Our Glorious Heritage (A pastoral letter at the beginning of the First Onitsha Archdiocesan}

Synod), Onitsha: November 6, 2005, p.11

wonderful and surprising thing is that this neither stopped other missionaries from joining them nor slowed down the enthusiasm of those already at work. A typical example is a young man in his prime age who volunteered himself as Jordan puts it:

It was the sixth death that year, and left only two Fathers alive in the Mission. The second to die, a young man in his twenties, had implored the Superior General to let him be a missionary in following terms: “On my knees I beg the favour of devoting my life to the salvation of souls in Africa, even though it means death. Let me save but a single soul, and I shall die with the desire of my hearth fulfilled.”103

His request was granted and he was sent as one of the missionaries to Nigeria. He died shortly after his arrival. Jordan went further and writes how they died almost as quickly as they came; yet, not as a single one ever asked to be relieved of his post. Hence, as man followed man into the soft red clay of Africa, the survivors gathered round his grave, crossed hand, and kneeling with bent heads, made this solemn appeal to God: ‘‘Accept O Eternal Father, they prayed, the sacrifice of this, our brother in Christ; the sacrifice of our lives, too. But grant that over these bones and ours, a great church will arise amidst the people whom we serve. Here was a missionary heroism at its most sublime degree. Here was the kind of faith that had made martyrs’ blood run red in Rome; that had raised the cross along the Amazon and the Hudson….”104

Thus, the record of the Catholic Mission for the first fifteen years of its existence East of the Niger was a record of suffering and death. Man after man out, and man after man went to the grave, often in the first year of his ministry. It was the same with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, who first reached Nigeria in 1888. Sickness and death was also their portion. At any rate these missionaries came, served and died and the seed of Catholicism was sown in Igboland. The Catholic Church in Igboland is indeed a church built with the sweat and blood of our missionaries as well as over their bones. It is really a church acquired at the price of life after the example of Christ, an inheritance undefiled, a fortress that cannot fade away, a patrimony kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation (1 Pet. 1:5).

We intend in the next section of this study to briefly look at the life and works of some of these outstanding early missionaries in Igboland. Our emphasis will bother on their catechetical and evangelical approaches and accomplishments. We shall also give an insight into how catechesis and evangelizations have continued in the contemporary period in the Catholic Church in Igboland. It is anticipated that such inquiry will help us to discover both what has been archived already as well as point out the appropriate direction to follow so as to effectively handle catechesis in our own time.

Father Joseph Emile Lutz 1885-1895

Joseph Emile Lutz was born at Dauendorf, Alsace on January 8, 1853. He was ordained priest in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost on December 23, 1876 and was sent out to the Misssion of Sierra Leone in August 1877 where he devoted his attention to medical work and conversion. On 23rd July 1885, he was appointed Superior to lead the team to open a new mission in the Lower Niger. Since he (Father Lutz) had some missionary experience in Sierra Leone, he knew what it costs to make an impact on the local population on the West Coast.

Father Lutz was endowed with very laudable attributes. For him evangelization meant more than merely teaching the natives to read the Bible in their own language. He came to win the whole man-body and soul for Christ. Charity, commiseration and seeking the well-being of the natives marked his evangelization method.105 Among his main contributions (which we already mentioned some of them earlier in this chapter), were his choice of Onitsha as operational missionary base, establishment of the Holy Trinity mission, Onitsha in 1886, St. Joseph’s mission at Aguleri in 1891 and the Notre Dame residential station at Nsugbe in 1894. Fr Lutz outside the usual direct means of winning converts (preaching, catechesis, religious worship and rituals) inaugurated a series of indirect means of evangelization.

He introduced the use of the school for boys and for girls, and also charitable works like dispensaries, hospitals, orphanages and asylums. In the Gospel of Matthew 25: 35-36 Christ says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat ..., I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Father Lutz did not only understand this word of Christ but assimilated and manifested it in his daily life. In his era, the hungry were redeemed from hunger by being given food, shelter and security in the Christian Villages and in the mission house. Kidnapped persons were brought back from their inhuman oppressors. The sick received special attention. Jordan affirming this said:

The method of approach adopted by Father Lutz and his companions was the charitable one of erecting hospitals and dispensaries, where the sick and the suffering were