By: Joy Odor/Abuja
The Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, His Grace, Most Reverend Mathew Man’Oso Ndagoso has called for more unity among Christians, saying disunity among Christians is a scandal.
He stated this at Holy Family Catholic Church Barnawa, Kaduna-South as the Church commemorate the 53rd World Communication Day being celebrated on Second June every Year.
The Catholic Archbishop who was represented by the Parish Priest of Holy Family Barnawa, Reverend Father Luka Bulus Karis was of the opinion that when Christians are not united, the world finds it difficult to believe that Jesus is truly God, urging us to be protected by unity not walls.
Bishop Ndagoso noted that when Christians diminish the importance of unity in the body of Christ, they risk being invaded by the enemy, saying God has called all to divine fellowship, one of the most powerful tools of witness to a lost and dying world.
The Catholic Clergy lamented that if Christians do not protect it, strive for it, and do everything they can to promote it, They open the gate to the enemy to attack their family and the church, causing ineffectiveness and destruction.
“This means that when Christians are not united, the world finds it difficult to believe that Jesus is truly God. Honestly, disunity among Christians is truly a scandal. A few weeks ago, I was listening to the radio while driving to early morning Sunday Mass and the matter of discussion on air was: “Why is it that all Christians are using the same bible, yet they never agree among themselves.
“When we diminish the importance of unity in the body of Christ, we risk being invaded by the enemy. God has called us to divine fellowship. That fellowship is one of the most powerful tools of witness to a lost and dying world.
“If we don’t protect it, strive for it, and do everything we can to promote it, we open the gate to the enemy. The enemy will attack your family and your church, causing ineffectiveness and destruction” He said.
With the Theme: “We are Members of Another (Eph 4.25) From Social Network Communities to Human Community, His Grace said in the era of the internet and social media, Christians must do more to make sure the media, especially social networks, are places of dialogue and respect for others, rather than instruments for highlighting differences and increasing divisions.
“The theme is a call for “reflection on the current state and nature of relationships on the internet, starting from the idea of community as a network between people in their wholeness.
“The metaphor of the web as a community of solidarity implies the construction of an ‘us’ based on listening to the other, on dialogue and consequently on the responsible use of language. “Pope Francis wants people to use social media as a network, not a web. Not something that traps you, but something that frees you and that you make an instrument of freedom.
“Social media can nourish “true, beautiful, solid relationships, but it can also “feed hatred and a friend or enemy mechanism. When this happens, there is no real relationship.
“Pope Francis calls on Catholic media not to fall behind in digital age. The risk in our time is that of forming tribes instead of communities — tribes based on the exclusion of the other” Bishop Ndagoso stressed.
