In Nigeria and Ghana, Great Challenges Face Us as Preachers - Provincial Dear Friends in Christ,
On October 4, 1949, Archbishop David Mathew, Apostolic Delegate to English-speaking East and West Africa, wrote to Very Reverend Edward Hughes, OP, Provincial of the Province of St. Albert the Great (Chicago, USA.), asking for Dominicans to come to Lagos. He also asked that the Dominicans take a mission prefecture comprising the Provinces of Sokoto and Katsina in northern Nigeria. Following a visit of Fr. Hughes in November 1949, the provincial Council in Chicago, on January 16, 1950, unanimously approved the Lagos foundation. The first three pioneer Dominicans, father (later Bishop) Michael J. Dempsey OP, Father (later Bishop) Thaddeus Lawton OP, and Father Arthur Kinsella OP arrived Lagos on February 27, 1951.(Father Kinsella is the only surviving pioneer Dominican.)
Little did the Apostolic Delegate, the provincial, or the first three Dominicans realise that from such ordinary beginnings, a large and sturdy branch, of the Dominican Order would develop in West Africa. From such small and seemingly inauspicious beginnings fifty years ago, the Dominicans have grown over the years to be the only province of the Order on the African continent. At present 131 brothers are affiliated and/ or assigned to the Province, of which 94 are in solemn vows. This includes 1 bishop (Most Rev. Ayo Maria Atoyebi, OP), 67 priests, 6 cooperator brothers, 52 students, and novices. All are of West African origin except for eight Americans affiliated to the Chicago province. From one house in Yaba, Lagos, there are now nine Dominican communities (Yaba, Gusau, Ibadan, Ile-Ife, Agbor-Obi, Mafoluku, Obosi, Oyigbo, and Kumasi). And we look forward to a tenth foundation, and our second community in Ghana, when the Dominicans go to Accra in February 2001.
Today there are also two separate congregations of Dominican Sisters working in Nigeria with at least sixty sisters altogether. The Dominican Laity, formerly the Third Order, is also present in Nigeria.
At a time when the membership of the order is shrinking in so many provinces in the northern hemisphere, the Nigerian/Ghanaian province is emerging as one of the largest and fastest growing entities of the Order. All the same, in Nigeria and Ghana great challenges face us as preachers to present the proposal of the Faith anew in an authentic and attractive manner at a time when many are leaving the Church. The challenges facing us are actually much the same as those which confronted St. Dominic when he founded the Order in the south of France in the thirteenth century.
Since our arrival in 1951, the lay faithful have responded enthusiastically to our preaching and supported us so generously. In fact nowadays many laity identify with us so closely that it's not unusual for those who worship in our parishes or chapels to refer to themselves as "Dominicans" ('Father, I'm a Dominican")! Without their love, support and loyalty, we would have little or nothing to celebrate at the time of our 50th Anniversary. We are also deeply grateful for the support and encouragement all these years of the hierarchy in those dioceses where we've served.
May the good Lord who has so wonderfully guided and directed the foundation and growth of the order in this part of the world during the last fifty years continue to walk with us in the years ahead. Any may we continue to walk with Him.
Devotedly yours in Christ,
Very Rev. F Thomas K. McDermott, OP,
Provincial
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