FROM GERMANY

Archbishop A.K. Obiefuna says “Thank you”

By Mons. Chidi Denis Isizoh

(Published in the June 2009 edition of TRINITAS NEWSPAPER)

On Sunday 17 May 2009 I had the beautiful experience of concelebrating Holy Mass with His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Albert K. Obiefuna, Archbishop emeritus of Onitsha archdiocese, at St Antonius Kloster, Rheinbach-Flerzheim near Bonn in Germany. It was my 4th visit to the Archbishop since his arrival in Europe.

Last October, His Grace was admitted at the University Polyclinic Bonn (Germany) for a major surgical intervention on the larynx. He has since been out of the hospital but goes back from time to time for check-up as need arises. He is being looked after by the Daughters of Divine Love in Bonn. The recovery has been slow and painful, but there is steady progress for better

What had been particularly difficult for the Archbishop was the fact that, because of the operation on the throat, he could neither celebrate Holy Mass nor receive Holy Communion between 22 October 2008 and 11 April 2009.

Sunday, 12 April 2009, was the solemnity of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the Archbishop, that day had added meaning. For the first time in several weeks he offered Holy Mass and received our Lord in the Eucharist. Of that day he exclaimed: “It was indeed my day of resurrection!”

Visiting him on 17 May 2009 I could not hide my joy to see his condition very much improved. I told him how I felt. And his reply: “As I see myself now, today is far better than yesterday. The treatment and the healing are gradual and slow and they demand patience on the doctor, on the patient and on those praying for God’s will on me.” (Photo: Archbishop A.K. Obiefuna celebrating Mass Germany in on 17 May 2009. Beside him: Mons. Chidi Denis Isizoh)

His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze was among the high profile visitors he had received. Archbishop Val Okeke not only visited a number of times but continues to show great interest and commitment on his behalf and that of the archdiocese of Onitsha in following every development in the long process of treatment and recovery. The Bishops of Onitsha ecclesiastical province gave collective support. Other individual Nigerian bishops and many priests have continued to pay him visit of solidarity. The archdiocese of Cologne, through Cardinal Joachim Meisner and Auxiliary Bishop Heiner Koch, has shown great commitment. Many friends and well-wishers continue to send him gifts of different kinds. Thousands are praying for him. The list is rather long. The archbishop noted that he had received over three thousand telephone calls from all corners of the globe.

Archbishop Obiefuna has words of gratitude for all. He is profoundly grateful to all who have been praying and offering Masses for him. To all, he says: “I am sincerely grateful. In your prayers I saw a volume of love from all corners and I have been at the centre of that love. I saw God’s love for me in your loving prayers for me. Your love and God’s love form one big love.”

During my visit, I brought from Rome and presented to Archbishop Obiefuna an Episcopal pectoral Cross which His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI gave to him, at the request of Archbishop Valerian Okeke. He was very happy to know that the Holy Father remembered him and was praying for him. (Photo: After Mass. Archbishop A.K. Obiefuna is wearing the pectoral Cross, a gift from Pope Benedict XVI)

To write Archbishop A.K. Obiefuna:
kaneneobiefuna@yahoo.co.uk