A Night in Nigeria

 St Joseph’s parish centre, North Mackay, was filled with keen parishioners to hear the associate pastor of the parish, Fr James Ezeocha, speak about his life in Nigeria. Parish priest, Fr Stephen Hanly, fired questions at Fr James who answered cheerfully.

Fr James was wearing a native dress of his country as he outlined the lifestyle in his home city in east Nigeria and the variations between the states in the north and south of the country. He was one of nine children in his family but lost two brothers to accidents. His parents have been married for 51 years this year. There belated 50^th anniversary celebration will be held later this year when Fr James returns to join them.

He said he had other plans for his life when he was younger, and priesthood was not his intended path. However, he changed his mind when in his senior secondary two class (Year 11) and decided to attend the Sons of Mary missionary school, which entailed a 100 km bike ride from his home. He went on to the Missionaries of Divine Mercy in northern Nigeria before returning to his home parish to study for the priesthood at Pope Paul II Seminary.

Fr James said there are so many young Nigerian men wanting to answer the call of vocation that the church there has introduced a rigorous process of study that takes more than 10 years before they are able to become a priest or Marist brother. Despite this, there is still a boom in vocation.

At some stage seminarians set out to work in the community for six weeks and stay in people’s houses. Fr James’ own family home has a room set aside for visiting seminarians.

In the south-eastern part of the country where Fr James grew up, it is almost all Christian while Muslims dominate the northern areas. His own family pray the rosary every night, and children regularly gather in the streets to pray and sing sacred songs.

Since coming to the Rockhampton diocese, he has attended parishes in Yeppoon, Gracemere, Mt Morgan, Biloela, and now St Joseph’s in North Mackay. Fr James said he finds Australian people quite friendly and cheerful and is not challenged by the different culture here. His relaxation time is spent listening to the news and watching soccer and wrestling. Fr Hanly said that Fr James really shares in the parish ministry.

Paul Vander Loos