Since August 2015 the Archbishop of Benin City, Edo State, handed over St. Francis Catholic Parish and St. Francis Secondary School to the Schoenstatt Fathers to manage and run. Fr. Paschal Agor became the first Schoenstatt Father to take over the place as Parish Priest. Since then he has worked with a few other fathers from our community: Fr. Anthony Onweuwaoma, Fr. Nichodemus Okenwa, Fr. Stanley Obijiaku and Fr. Gregory Emeka Ojukwu.
Fr. Paschal Agor together with all those who have worked with him suffered and sacrificed a lot to raise the Parish now to a better standard. Since it is a rural Parish with mainly poor farmers Fr. Paschal and his team were looking for money from friends, relatives and Benefactors from outside the Parish for their sustenance and also for the building of the Church.
Today we thank God that through their sacrifices and their efforts the new Church building of St. Francis Catholic Church Ugbogui, Benin City has been completed. The Church was dedicated on the 29th of January 2020.
We thank the Catholic Archbishop of Benin City, Most Rev. Dr. Augustine Obiora Akubueze for his help and trust in the Community as we take care of that Parish. He also supported financially in the Church building. Our brother Fr. Paschal Agor and all those who worked with him have done wonderfully well too. May God bless and reward them.
The celebration kicked off with the Holy Mass which was anchored by His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Augustine Obiora Akubueze, the Archbishop of the Metropolitan see of Benin City. The Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Paschal Agor, the Delegate Superior of the Schoenstatt Fathers in Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Kingsley Kizito Okereke, and a few other Schoenstatt fathers and other priests and Religious with numerous lay faithful were in attendance.
The dedication is the climax of the work of Fr. Paschal Agor in Benin City and in that Parish. It was already clear that after the dedication he would move to Bogije, Lekki area of Lagos where he would be resident in our Parish there and be part of the team that would bring to reality our dream of a standard secondary school. Fr. Raymond Chikaodo is the new Parish priest of the newly dedicated St. Francis Catholic Parish Ugbogui, Benin City and Fr. Gregory Emeka Ojukwu is the new Administrator of St. Francis Secondary School Ugbogui. We wish them well.
