Editorial

From the editorial desk I greet you, all our eager and supportive readers. I greet you our erudite contributors and all the good apostles of our Journal. I say to you SHALOM.
As you would have observed, the Shalom did not come out in June as would normally be the case. This was a deliberate delay. Our aim was to take more time and come out with what most of our readers have been looking forward to; a Shalom that would be more informative, more pedagogical, more pastoral, more daring and more current with time and events.
As we all may know, the Church in Nigeria has in recent times experienced a lot of transitions in terms of leadership. The Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria is fast having a new portrait given the ordination of new and younger Bishops. Again some Bishops in Nigeria have had to be moved from one See to the other irrespective of ethnicity. It is a thing of great joy and an assurance of continuity in the apostolic Ministry of Bishops.
Now, since the Church is a divine institution run by mere human beings, the shadows of what is happening in the world’s political scene might be used by some as a goggle to measure the perfect nature of these transitions.
Thus, in line with being Good news for the Religious, Clergy, and the Lay faithful, the Shalom has taken the bull by the horn to reflect on the great call to service manifested in the

choice of Catholic Bishops in the country in this edition, titled, “Christian Leadership as Service; the Making of the Catholic Bishop”.
We believe this would be a forum to enlighten Catholics and indeed all ardent readers of shalom on the meaning, nature and challenges of being a Catholic Bishop; the chief shepherd of the particular local church.
In doing this we could not ignore the experience of great and retired shepherds like, Most Rev. Dr. Gregory Ochiagha, Bishop Emeritus of Orlu diocese, who in our interview with him exposed the “secrets” of Catholic Bishopric and Most Rev. Dr. Anthony Gbuji, Bishop Emeritus of the Catholic diocese of Enugu, who educates us on how great pastors were chosen, how they have succeeded and the secret of their success.
Besides, there are other daring articles like, Ethnicity and the Bishopric in Nigeria by Fr. Everistus Bassey; The Three Degrees of the Holy Orders By Rev. Fr. Ambrose Chineme Agu; Understanding the role of the catholic Bishop as service by Fr. Segun Adyemi. Interestingly we have some contributions from the Religious and Lay faithful. Rev. Sr. Judith Madueke, EHJ writes on the word of God as the rule for Mission and Shepherding; Barr. Joseph Ifeanyichukwu Ukoh writes from the wing of the lay faithful on, the challenges of the life and Mission of the church in Nigeria: the role of the Laity.
Other very educative articles include, The Bishop Regalia, History and contemporary symbolism by Rev. Dr. Aloysius Nwabeke; Communication Dimension of Leadership as Service in the Church by Fr. Joseph Oladejo.
Two young and daring Vincentian missionaries also share their pastoral experience in this edition of the Shalom. Rev. Frs. Justin Ekeh CM and Osang Idagbo CM write from Papua New Guinea and Bellville where they are pasturing the flock with culture shocks and culture fuses. Finally we have a Book review on “Marriage before and after”, which is one of the core pastoral problems.
Many thanks to our Associate Editor and our Provincial Secretary, Frs. Michael Iroh CM and Nicholas Ibeneme CM for the exclusive and beautiful interview with Bishop Gregory Ochiagha. Thanks also to all our contributors and advisers. No need to say that there is a lot to learn by reading this edition of the Shalom and getting others to read it. You will be glad you did.
You may want to write to us on some of the issues presented here or for further enquiry about Shalom. Best wishes always.
Fr. Linus Umoren, Cm
Editor-In-Chief