Pope John Paul II Major Seminary ends Pro Life convention in Awka

Inducts 40 seminarians for life

THE Prolife Movement has ended her two – day Prolife/Health Convention held in Pope Johnpaul the Second Major Seminary, Okpuno, in Awka North Local Government Area, Awka, Anambra State, over the weekend.

  The annual convention which was organised by the Seminarians for Life kick-started with the march for life around Awka environs with the participants carrying placards with various prolife inscriptions accompanied with music while proclaiming the message of life.

  It was finally brought to its climax with paper presentation and other entertainments.

  The convention is organised basically to promote life in the society with the interest of examining the effective means of promoting and proclaiming the message educating and insightful lectures.

   It was a period for cross fertilisation of insightful presentations as talks were given by grounded speakers in the fields of humanities ranging from law, theology, philosophy, psychology, medicine, among others.

   The key speaker,  Chizoba Nnagboh averred the intrinsic sacredness of life, saying that humans are made in the image and likeness of God and as such, have inherent dignity that should be upheld by all and sundry.

  He noted the views from a school of thought that some humans have less value than others as the human society is made up of both civilisation and anti civilisation.

  Chizoba, a lawyer, went ahead to cite Pope John Paul the Second’s postulation of culture of life and culture of death.

 He decried at the instances were mercy killing (euthanasia) is sold out to the public by some authorities as against the sacredness of life.

  He hinted that there is no such thing as absolute freedom as the preservation of human life takes priority over other freedom.

  Chizoba further highlighted that no medical personnel has the right to take a decision as a general rule by taking a patient’s life except in cases where the decision is informed by urgency of the case. He added that taking one’s own life is a crime as attempted suicide in the Nigerian legal system is a criminal offence.

   The key speaker further bemoaned the neglect of the elderly and stigmatisation of the disabled in the society. He went on to condemn a society that takes the vulnerable as a burden to them as a dead society.

  In his words: “a society that has no concern for the elderly because they create a burden for them is already a dead society.”

  On his part, the President of the Prolife Movement, Rev Jerome Nwomuru admonished the youths to begin in earnest to build their future in order not to suffer neglect when they grow old.

  “Begin now to build your life, invest in persons because they may be the ones to take care of you when you grow old. In order to enjoy your old age, you have to work towards it in your youth,” he reiterated.

  The moderator of the movement, Rev FrDr Paschal Okeke, who was represented by Fr Dominic,also collaborated  the sacredness of life while urging the youths to employ the opportunities of the social media to spread the message of love, care and respect for the aged and the disabled in the society.

  Highlights of the convention included musical rendition, poetic presentation, cultural dance by the seminarians which was climaxed with the induction of 40 Seminarians for Life into the movement.

  The event was later brought to a close with the presentation of certificates to the participants.

  Participants who were drawn from all walks of life included seminarians from major seminaries in the country, students from tertiary institutions all over Nigeria, medical students from tertiary institutions in the state, legislators, among others.