Catholics gather to pray for Nigerian school girls
May 14, 2014
Catholics
gather to pray for Nigerian school girls
This Sunday, May 18, the
Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston’s Office
of the Vicar for Catholics of African Descent
and the Igbo Catholic Community of Houston will
host a prayer service asking for the safe
release of the more than 300 Nigerian school
girls who were kidnapped last week.
The prayer service
will be held at 3 p.m. at the Igbo Catholic
Community of Houston Center, 8250 Creekbend
Drive, Houston.
The service, which is open to all,
will be led by Deacon Leonard Lockett, Vicar for
Catholics of African Descent for the Archdiocese
and Fr. Desmond Ohankwere, pastor at St.
Nicholas Catholic Church, the
Archdiocese’s first Catholic church
established to serve Houston’s African-
American Community.
“On first hearing of the news
regarding the abduction of the young ladies and
destruction of their school, I could not help
but place myself in the persona of the fathers
and uncles of those young ladies, being the
father of a daughter and uncle to numerous
nieces myself,” said Deacon Lockett.
“The prayer service is time for us to
gather in prayer, to pause and reflect on these
precious young ladies, their families and more
importantly ask Jesus, the Prince of Peace,
during this holy and blessed season of Easter to
bring comfort and healing to our broken world
and the safe return of our young sisters caught
in the grip of evil within our world
today.”
About the Igbo Catholic Community
Center
Since 2012, the Igbo Catholic
Community Center serves as a place of religious
instruction and fellowship for the Igbo
community in Houston.
Igbo is an ethnic
group based in West Africa, primarily in
southeastern Nigeria.
The Archdiocese of
Galveston-Houston serves 1.2 million Catholics
in 10 counties.
It is the
largest Roman Catholic diocese in Texas and the
12th largest in the United States.
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