St. Alphonsus supports cathedral building with N5m

Making the donation on behalf of the parishioners to the bishop of the diocese, Most Rev Martins Adewale who visited the St. Alphonsus Church on fund raising mission recently, Rev. Father Anthony Bassey (MSP) said the gesture was the parish’s commitment to ensure the completion of the cathedral. At the first instance, a cheque of […]

Making the donation on behalf of the parishioners to the bishop of the diocese, Most Rev Martins Adewale who visited the St. Alphonsus Church on fund raising mission recently, Rev. Father Anthony Bassey (MSP) said the gesture was the parish’s commitment to ensure the completion of the cathedral.

At the first instance, a cheque of N3 million was presented the bishop; the N2 million balance is to be delivered at a later date.

“We are presenting N5 million for the construction of the cathedral. But we are presenting to you a cheque of N3 million now and the balance of N2 million will be delivered to you in no long time from now,” Father Bassey said.

“We are very happy for you and we pray God to continue to bless you and keep you. As you go round to source funds for the cathedral building, we pray that God should make your efforts a success,” Father Bassey prayed.

The cathedral building’s cost in 2000 was put at N250 million. So far, over N90 million has been spent on the project. It is at the roof level now.

Receiving the cheque, Most Rev Martins said the N5 million was the highest donation from all the parishes he had visited under the diocese.

He thanked St. Alphonsus Church community and prayed that God blesses them for the honour.

“I thank you for the honour done me today. As far as I know, the honour you do to me is not done to me but to God. Because it is God who is making you to give me honour. God will certainly honour you and bless you,” he said.

“I want to thank you for the money you donated for the building of the church cathedral. I have to tell you clearly that the parishes that I have been so far, St. Alphonsus has given the highest donation. But the trickles that come from all members of the diocese will give us the cathedral of our dream,” he noted.

“I appreciate the spirit behind the effort and the effort itself. I can assure you that the funds we are raising are being managed prudently. They are being judiciously used by professionals who know the business of building,” he stressed.

He explained that the cathedral building is in progress even though it suffered initial challenges of contractors running away but all of that has been fixed.

There was a mini birthday celebration in honour of the bishop who turned 62 on 1st June, 2011.

The elated bishop expressed, “The love feast we celebrate on Pentecost will continue to translate into personal one to one and group relationships in the church. The love you demonstrate is responsible for the kind of progress the church has made even in the new church under construction. Let’s keep it up and wherever there are short falls, we should try to amend.

“We will have a cathedral that we can all be proud off bearing in mind that some churches have their befitting headquarters within our jurisdiction. This is achievable and it is being achieved with people like you.

“I also thank you for the birthday gift and celebrations. It is a pleasant surprise.

“I appreciate all your donations. You have all donated according to how much you have and God will reward you. As you have given your widows might, God will bless you all.”