A Catholic priest, Rev. Father Gabriel Ngbe of Akwangwa Catholic Church, in Nasarawa State, on Sunday canvassed the need for Catholic Church to incorporate some good aspects of African culture in its Doctrine.
The Catholic Priest made this known while celebrating Acculturation Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church Akwanga.
Ngbe insisted that the Catholic doctrine must be amended, especially in the African Catholic Churches in order to accommodate every member of the Church.
“The Whiteman that brought Christianity to us mixed the religion with his culture and Africans just accepted it like that at the expense of our culture.
“If we did not incorporate parts of our culture into the way we worship God, our culture would in no distant time go into extinction,” he said.
Ngbe explained that local foods should henceforth be used for communion in the Catholic Church instead of using products imported from Europe.
The priest also said meaningful local names should be given to people during Baptism and Confirmation in Catholic Churches as against using “English names.”
Ngbe urged members to imbibe the habit of wearing local dresses during weddings as well as using local languages for Mass.
He said that anybody who practiced polygamy before accepting Christ should be given equal treatment in the Church with those that have only one wife.
“It is better to have many wives at home than to have only one and yet have many girl friends and lovers outside,” the priest said.
Ngbe therefore commended the Yoruba people for incorporating their culture in the way they practiced both Christianity and Islam and urged others to emulate them.
