College News Home
	Calendars
	Newsletter articles online
	News archives
	Press Room

Faith and Reason are
Flourishing in Nigeria

Archbishop Obinna Visits Campus as He Plans New College

(Fall 2006 Newsletter)

One of the great signs of hope for the Catholic Church has been the tremendous growth of the Church in Africa in recent years, especially in Nigeria. With a population of just over 125 million, it is 45% Catholic and has the largest rate of Catholic growth (nearly 5% annually) on the continent. The credit for this success story goes first to the grace of God, but also to His instruments—especially the Holy Ghost Fathers and the White Fathers who brought the Faith to Nigeria, and the numerous local priests, nuns, and lay people who have helped cultivate this greenhouse of belief that is modern--day Nigeria.

During a visit to a fellow Nigerian priest at a nearby parish, one of Nigeria’s 52 bishops recently came to Thomas Aquinas College to call on President and Mrs. Dillon. Archbishop Anthony J.V. Obinna of Owerri, Nigeria, had first met the Dillons some months before in Barcelona at a meeting of the International Council of Universities of St. Thomas Aquinas (ICUSTA), an organization that fosters cooperation between colleges and universities dedicated to the thought of the Angelic Doctor. Because the Archbishop is spearheading the effort to found a Catholic institution of higher education in Owerri to be named Holy Rosary International College, he sought to learn more about the nature of Thomas Aquinas College’s curriculum, its pedagogy, and the principles that animate it.

The Dillons were delighted to renew their acquaintance with the African prelate and to talk at some length with him about the unique nature of the College’s curriculum, the way in which faith and reason together illumine the pursuit of truth, the College’s discipleship to St. Thomas, and its fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church. Likewise, they were interested to hear his insights concerning Catholic higher education and his understanding of the Muslim religion based on his experiences of it in Nigeria. On parting, Dr. Dillon offered to assist Archbishop Obinna in whatever way he might in his efforts to establish a new college in West Africa.

Having studied in both the United States and abroad, Archbishop Obinna holds advanced degrees in theology, religious studies, and education. He is the second Nigerian prelate to honor the College with a visit, the first having been His Eminence Francis Cardinal Arinze, the Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and the former Archbishop of Onitsha, Nigeria. Cardinal Arinze delivered the Commencement Address at the College in 2004.

-- Qtrly Newsletter, Fall 2006