By Rev. Fr. Augustine Okochi
“Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40). With these pastoral words as its quiet compass, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has released a timely and much-needed policy book titled Guidelines on Fundraising in Liturgical Worship in Nigeria. Providing these guidelines by the CBCN is both an act of pastoral courage and an act of pastoral love – the courage to name what has gone wrong and the love to chart the path back to reverence and liturgical serenity.
Every parish, chaplaincy and diocese in Nigeria knows the tension this book addresses. The Catholic Church, generous and vibrant, must raise funds to build, to evangelise and to care for her pastoral agents. In some ecclesial quarters in recent times, however, well-meaning zeal has occasionally drifted into troubling terrains: comedians on the altar, banners “unveiled” for a fee, blessings priced like merchandise and second collections so frequent that the Eucharist itself risks becoming an interruption to the harvest rather than its reason. Our Bishops have seen this, named it plainly and now offer the whole Church a sure and Christ-centred way forward.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS BOOK AND WHY IT MATTERS
Grounded in Sacred Scripture, the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the documents of Vatican II and the teaching of recent Popes, the Guidelines restore the Eucharist to its rightful place as the fons et culmen – the source and summit – of Christian worship. They remind priests, religious and lay people alike that giving to God is ancient, biblical and noble – from the widow’s two coins to Judas Maccabeus’ offering for Jerusalem – but that it must always be free, dignified and untainted by pressure or deceit. The book does not discourage generosity but rather purifies it.
WHAT THE GUIDELINES OFFER
In clear and pastoral language, the book, among other things, reaffirms the primacy of the Eucharistic celebration over every fundraising activity, calls for honest and adequate communication with the faithful before any appeal is made, insists on the dignity of every donor, rich or poor, and forbids humiliation, coercion or guilt-tripping. It goes further to demand transparency and accountability in the documentation of all funds raised, addresses the proliferation of unauthorized levies, elaborate anniversaries, oversized building projects and the commercialisation of sacramentals. The book proposes concrete structures such as diocesan budgets, project-screening committees and the centralisation of resources in order to bring order, justice and sustainability to Church finances across Nigeria.
AN APPEAL TO THE CLERGY, RELIGIOUS AND LAITY
To our beloved priests and religious, this book is our companion in pastoral integrity. It equips us to lead our communities in fundraising that edifies rather than embarrasses, that draws people closer to Christ rather than driving them from the pews as a result of too frequent and exploitative fundraising.
To the lay faithful, Catholic Lay Apostolate groups and sodalities, this book affirms your right to give freely, cheerfully and with dignity – never under compulsion, never for spectacle. It invites you to work with your pastoral leaders in the spirit of the shared responsibility the Council Fathers of Vatican II so warmly commended between the lay faithful and their priests.
Guidelines on Fundraising in Liturgical Worship in Nigeria is a book every rectory, every parish pastoral council, every seminary formation house, every religious community and every family concerned about the health of our common worship should own, study and put into practice. Its prescriptions are not rules to be feared but wisdom to be embraced. It is meant to shape how we give and how we ask, so that our liturgical worship may once again be without distraction or diminishment, the pure and undivided offering of a grateful people to a generous God.
As the Bishops themselves conclude, the Church “reaffirms her commitment to the sanctity of the Eucharistic celebration and calls on every pastoral agent to guard against all that would compromise it.” Let this book guide us, one parish at a time, back to the beauty, order and holiness that our worship of God deserves.
Rev. Fr. Augustine Okochi is the Deputy Secretary-General and Director, Pastoral Agents Department, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria.
