Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral Catholic Church Celebrate Cultural Day 2019

The 2019 edition of the Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro Cathedral Catholic Church Area 3 Garki was a cream of personalities. It featues cultural foods, attires, dances and procession of each cultural group in the church. The event was used to commemorate Nigeria’s Independence and preach unity amongst the diverse ethnic and cultural group. Sir Patrick Pillah, Chairman of Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro Cathedral Catholic Church, Area 3, Abuja on the auspicious occasion of the cathedral 2019 cultural day in Abuja enjoined Nigerians to deepen their love and care for one another. He added that the country’s religious and cultural diversity should be considered by all as a source of strength and beauty. The cultural day celebration, being a day set aside by the parish in line with the inculturation policy of the Catholic Church; ” the adaptation of the way Church teachings are presented to other, mostly non-Christian, cultures and, in turn, the influence of those cultures on the evolution of these teachings” The coexistence of Christianity and other cultures dates back to the apostolic age. Before his Ascension, Jesus instructed his disciples to spread his teachings to the ends of the earth (Mt 28,18; Mk 16,15) but did not tell them how.[3] Saint Paul’s speech to the Greeks at the Aeropagus of Athens (Acts 17:22-33) could be considered as the first inculturation attempt. The speech was not well received by all, according to verse 32: “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked”. Around the year 50, the apostles convened the first Church council, the Council of Jerusalem, to decide whether to include Gentiles and inculturate Gentile culture. The Council confirmed that Gentiles could be accepted as Christians without first converting to Judaism. Cultural conflicts continued until Christianity incorporated the Greco-Roman culture. Similar inculturation occurred when the Roman Empire ceased and the Germanic and Medieval cultures became dominant, a process taking centuries. Early practitioners of inculturation in the history of missions include St. Patrick in Ireland and Sts. Cyril and Methodius for the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe. After the schism of 1054, the Catholic Church was largely restricted to the Western parts of Europe. Attempts failed to return the sphere of influence to the cultures of the Middle East with the crusades and the Latin Empire in Constantinople (1204–1261). The Protestant Reformation generated a division in the Western Church. However, at the same time, Spanish and Portuguese discoveries of the Americas, Asia and Africa broadened contact with other cultures and civilizations. Hence the need to Christianise these indigenous culture that are not in conflict with church, it’s doctrine and salvation. Dr. Mrs. Pillah in her view says the best way to propage the Gospel is reinvent and present it in the culture of the people noting that culture being the people way of life ranging from food, clothing , Hon. Mrs. Regina Ochube noted the important and the link of of culture to religion and laud the effort of the church for bringall cultures together to celebrate their diversity in unity in the presence of God thereby bonding everybody together irrespective of tribe and culture. The event brings together all cultural group from all state of the federation display difference type of foods, dances, attires perculia to a particular cultural group.