By Abuchi Ifesinachi
The Catholic Diocese of Awka has declared 30 days of prayers for the late Emeritus Bishop of the Diocese, Most Rev. Simon Akwali Okafor who died on August 29, 2014 at the age of 80 years.Declaring the 30 days of mourning and prayers, the incumbent bishop of the Diocese, His Lordship Most Rev. Dr. Paulinus Chukwuemeka Ezeokafor told newsmen in a press briefing at St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Awka that all the Parishes in the Diocese have been informed of the demise of the late Bishop and the 30 day mourning period.
“We believe as Christians that the most important thing for the dead is prayer. We believe that nobody is perfect and the way we can help him is to pray constantly for him.
He continued, ‘After the Episcopal ordination of Most Rev. Jonas Benson Okoye, the Auxiliary Bishop of Awka on August 29, 2014 at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral, one of the people looking after the late Bishop called me to say that when they went to wake him up at 7.00 pm for prayers, he met him in coma, by the time I got to his residence, he was already dead. We celebrated Mass to his residence immediately before taking his body to the mortuary, ‘he said.
He said further, ‘The late Bishop Okafor really suffered and carried his cross as he was sick most of the time, but even while he was sick, he kept encouraging me to continue the work of God and that he would join me once he got better. The sickness continued until his death,’ Bishop Ezeokafor noted.
He announced that the date of the burial of the late Bishop had been fixed, adding that Francis Cardinal Arinze, the former prefect for interreligious affairs and sacrament at the Vatican who the late Bishop Okafor served as secretary before he was ordained Bishop, would preside at the funeral ceremony in Awka.
The late Bishop Okafor, who was born in 1934, was a native of Ifitedunu, in Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State, a renowned educationist; he served as the provost of then Anambra State College of Education before he was ordained an Auxiliary Bishop in 1992. He was consecrated the Bishop of Awka Diocese in 1994 and stepped aside in 2009 due to ill-health.
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