The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, extended his heartfelt congratulations to Francis Cardinal Arinze on the occasion of his 60th anniversary as a bishop.
Following his consecration in 1965, Cardinal Arinze made history as the youngest catholic bishop in the world at a youthful age of 32. He achieved this just in time to attend the final session of the historic Second Vatican Council in Rome (1962–1965).
Cardinal Arinze was promoted to the rank of Archbishop two years later, at the age of 34, making him the youngest prelate and the first African to head the Onitsha Archdiocese. In 1985, he was ordained a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, a befitting rank to crown his years of service to the Church.
As a cardinal, Arinze served as the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments amongst other key dicasteries. As one of the remaining council fathers of Vatican II, Obi described him as a living Witness to the Church’s renewal in the modern world.
” We remain immensely proud of him and grateful for his enduring life of service, discipline, and faith. May his life continue to be like the tree planted beside flowing waters—still full of sap, still green. Amen.” Obi Said.
Francis Cardinal Arinze served as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican from 2002 to 2008. He also led the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue from 1984 to 2002. His liturgical work primarily involves promoting liturgical discipline, interfaith dialogue, and evangelization, as advised by Pope John Paul II, and he was also considered a papabile in 2005.
Cardinal Arinze remains one of the few African clergymen to rise to the heights of the Vatican in the catholic church system. He was already a Nigerian Bishop before the outbreak of the civil war that lasted from 1966 to 1970.
