By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Catholic Priests, as well as seminarians, in the Awka Diocese of Anambra State led by their Bishop, Most Reverend Paulinus Ezeokafor, on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, celebrated this year’s New Yam Festival.

The festival, which was described as a cultural identity, took place at St Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral’s Refectory in Awka. The priests were seen in their numbers at the occasion, adorning different traditional attires.

Speaking during the event, Bishop Ezeokafor thanked God for the gift of life and for the bountiful harvest, saying that God had actually blessed and rewarded their handiwork.

He said: "There is dignity in labour. We are grateful to God for this. He has shown that He loves and rewards hard work. We are appreciative of what God has done. You cannot do without your culture.

“We hold our culture and tradition in high esteem. We place high premium on our culture. It is our identity. This is the 14-15 years I have celebrated this special season. New yam festival is what we are here to celebrate."

While commending the out-going seminarians for carrying out their assignments to the best of their abilities, the Bishop appreciated the Episcopal household seminarians, the Local Ordinary and charged the in-coming to be of good conduct and work towards surpassing their predecessors, stressing that they would be recognized and appreciated them for putting in their best till the end of their stay.

In their separate speeches, the attendees, including Chancellor of the Diocese, Rev. Fr. Charles Ndubuisi, extolled the Bishop for his fatherly love and care, as well as the way and manner he has been piloting the affairs of the Diocese.

They advised the new seminarians to be useful to themselves, community, church and society at large, emphasizing that there was no short cut to success.

Dim Shalom who spoke on behalf of the outgoing Seminarians, thanked God for His mercies and blessings and for seeing them through.

He further hailed the Bishop and Priests for their guidance and asked God to reward them abundantly.

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