Church Massacre: Indigenous Ozubulu priests Celebrate Mass at St. Phillips Catholic Church

All the Indigenous priests and religious of Old Ozubulu association led by Bishop Martin Uzokwu (Catholic Bishop of Minna) celebrated a Holy Mass for the happy repose and quick recovery of the departed and wounded at St Philip's Catholic Church Ozubulu in Anambra state where unknown gunmen shot dead 14 worshippers on July 15th, 2017.

At the beginning of the  Holy mass, Rev Fr Theo Odukwe, remarked that the mass was in honor of departed brethren in line with the liturgical feast celebration of the martyrdom of St John the Baptist, hence he prayed that such unfortunate incident may not repeat itself again in Ozubulu or elsewhere and urged the bishop to continue with the mass.

During the homily, Rev Fr Edwin Udoye expressed his sadness over the ugly and hideous incident that happened in the parish.

He pointed out that in the earlier days, a shrine was a Shield (refugium pecatorum) for any individual who seeks refuge.

On the  contrary, we believe that the church is spiritually greater than the Shrine thus such a crime in the church (refuge) is a sacrilege and defamation of the name of God as such they committed a hideous crime against God and man.

Speaking of the lost souls, he maintained that all hope is not lost for our brethren who died during the incident rather they were privileged to have died not only inside the church but during the celebration of the Eucharist. He consoled their families and prayed for quick healing of the wounded.

The president of the association Rev Fr Edwin Udoye conveyed their heartfelt sentiments to the people of God for their time and prayed God to send them home safely to their respective homes.

Before the end of the mass Rev Fr Theo Odukwe joined his voice to that of the president to welcome the bishop, priests and in a special way Mr Aloysius Ikegwuonu, he maintained that 'there is no justification for the killing in the church' as such we should leave our faith in God to take justice.

Concluding the mass, the parish priest Rev Fr Jude Onwuaso welcomed the bishop, the priests and every other person present