Archbishop of Ibadan launches two new Catechisms

The Archbishop of Ibadan Most Rev. Abegunrin on behalf of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province launches two new Catechisms: On Human Life, and On Marriage and the Family.

ore than eight hundred people attended the launching on 15 February 2018 at Ibadan of a catechism on “Human life, from conception till death”, and a catechism on “Marriage and the Family: the teachings of the Catholic Church”, by Archbishop of Ibadan, Most Rev. Abegunrin on behalf of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province.Also present at the occasion were five other bishops of the Archdiocese, two bishops emeriti, priests, religious and lay faithful, from Ibadan, Osogbo, Ondo, Oyo and Ekiti dioceses.

The seed for the works were sown in May 2015 during an international conference on human life, marriage and family that took place at Ibadan.Delegates attended from Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States.Following the approval of the bishops of the province of a suggestion presented by the conference central committee, Fr. Joseph Guzman, a priest of Opus Dei was entrusted with the task of producing the documents.

There followed two years of research and consulting 70 different documents such as the Scripture and several documents of the Church on these topics.The author consulted Encyclicals from Pope Leo XIII through to Pope Francis, including the most recent of the Holy Father on the family, Amoris Laetitiae.Other documents consulted were apostolic exhortations, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its Compendium, the Code of Canon Law, other documents from Pontifical Councils, documents of the Congregations of the Roman Curia and the International Theological Commission.

The result was two catechisms: on ‘Human life, from conception till death’, and on ‘Marriage and the Family: the teachings of the Catholic Church’.

The books, written for both the youth and adults, engaged and married, are written in simple language and in a question-and-answer format, making it an easy read.Both books have appendices containing several Internet sites that can be consulted for more information.The Catechism on “Marriage and the Family” includes interesting “extras” such as a “Blessing for engaged couples”, “The Marriage Rite”, and a detailed bibliography.Other people that would benefit from reading the Catechisms include lawmakers, medical doctors and other healthcare personnel, the scientific community, seminarians, catechists, priests and religious.Since it is however based on the dictates of the natural moral law, all men and women, irrespective of their belief systems should find in them useful guides.