VICARS AND DEAN APPOINTED FOR MAKURDI DIOCESE
The Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, Most Revd Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe, CMF has appointed three of his priests to function in certain capacities. By a pronouncement made on Monday 2nd May, 2022, Revd Father Francis Shagbaor Wegh is appointed Vicar General Administration, Revd Father Moses Aondover Iorapuu, Vicar General Pastoral and Revd Father Moses Dooyum Dzever CSSp, Dean of Makurdi Deanery.
The appointments are in accord with the laws of the Church. According to the Code of Canon Law, “In each Diocese the Diocesan Bishop is to appoint a Vicar General to assist him in the governance of the whole Diocese” (Can. 475 § 1). By virtue of his office, therefore, “the Vicar General has the same executive power throughout the whole Diocese as that which belongs by law to the Diocesan Bishop: that is, he can perform all administrative acts, with the exception however of those which the Bishop has reserved to himself, or which by law require a special mandate of the Bishop” (Can. 479 § 1). Thus, a Vicar as defined by John Burke, is “a person who takes the place of another and performs acts of authority in an ecclesiastical office in the name of another.”
Also, “To foster pastoral care by means of common action, several neighbouring parishes can be joined together in special groups, such as vicariates forane” (Can. 374 § 2). Hence by law, “Each Diocese or other Particular Church is to be divided into distinct parts or parishes” (Can. 374 § 1). This is where Deanery and the office of the Dean takes concrete shape. The Dean, also called Vicar Forane or the Archpriest, “is the priest who is placed in charge of a vicariate forane” (Can. 553 § 1). That is, a Deanery. He is to promote and coordinate common pastoral action in the Deanery; he is to see that the clerics of his district lead a life befitting their state and conscious of their obligations; he is to ensure that religious functions are celebrated according to the provisions of the sacred liturgy with much attention to the rubrics (instructions or guidelines); he is to ensure that spiritual assistance is available to the clerics of his district and identify with those who are in difficult circumstances (cf. Can. 555 § 1). Like the Vicar, his appointment belongs solely to the Diocesan Bishop.
SOURCE : Catholic Star Newspaper
