Valerian Maduka Okeke (born 20 October 1953) is a Nigerian

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

who serves as the Archbishop of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Archdiocese of Onitsha, and Metropolitan of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province. He was born in

Umudioka Umudioka is a town in Dunukofia Local Government Area in Anambra State, Southeastern Nigeria. It is made up of 10 villages, and shares boundaries with neighbouring towns as follows: Ogidi, Ogbunike, Umunya, Umunnachi and Ifite Dunu. List of Vill ...

Anambra State Anambra State is a Nigerian state, located in the southeastern region of the country. The state was created on August 27, 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi State ...

and ordained to the priesthood on 11 July 1981 by cardinal

Francis Arinze Francis Arinze (born 1 November 1932) is a Nigerian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 2002 to 2008 and before that led the Secretariat for Non-Christ ...

, who was then the Archbishop of Onitsha. After his ordination, he worked as a parish vicar at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Onitsha, under

Emmanuel Otteh Emmanuel Nwafor Otteh (1 November 1927 – 27 July 2012) was a Nigerian Roman Catholic prelate. Otteh was born in Nigeria and was ordained to the priesthood in 1961. He served as titular bishop of Cova and as the auxiliary bishop of the Roma ...

. Valerian Okeke later served as parish priest of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows' Parish, Umuoji (1983- 1986). He served as the Rector of the provincial seminary, Bigard Memorial Seminary,

Enugu Enugu ( ; ) is the capital city of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in southeastern part of Nigeria. The city had a population of 820,000 according to the 2022 Nigerian census. The name ''Enugu'' is derived from the two Igbo words ''Énú ...

, before he was appointed the co-adjutor Archbishop of Onitsha by Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, on 28 November 2001. He was consecrated Co-adjutor Archbishop on 9 February 2002, by Archbishop

Osvaldo Padilla Osvaldo Montecillo Padilla (born 15 August 1942) is a Philippine prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He became an archbishop in 1991 and the position of Apostolic Nuncio to several count ...

Works

Since his ordination, Okeke has served on various committees of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of Nigeria, and as chairman of the conference Pastoral Affairs Department, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria in 2017. Presently, he is the chairman of the Catholic Bishop's Conference commission on Seminaries. He oversaw the increase of the number of parishes in Onitsha Archdiocese from 70 to 183 over 15 years. He has seen to the dedication of many churches in the archdiocese. He has priests on loan to the diocese of

Belleville, Illinois Belleville is a city and the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The p ...

. His contacts extend to the

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

Community in

Ozone Park, Queens Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing and home to the Resorts Wor ...

, New York, where he drew over 400 mostly Igbo for a

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

service. Okeke personally visits the Onitsha prisons three times every year.. The Federal Government of Nigeria through the Chief of Prisoner services honored him with the prestigious award of grand patron of Nigerian correctional service

Through the Archbishop Valerian Okeke Foundation (AVOF) he is able to send young ambassadors of good will to countries like

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Archbishop Valerian encouraged the state government to return the mission schools in

to the church. When the Schools were eventually returned by the Governor

Peter Obi Peter Gregory Obi (born 19 July 1961) is a Nigerian businessman and politician who served as governor of Anambra from March to November 2006, February to May 2007, and from June 2007 to March 2014. In May 2022, he became the Labour Party can ...

-led administration, Archbishop Valerian spearheaded the massive reconstruction and rehabilitation of Mission schools which were taken away from the Church by the military government after the civil war. He initiated policies for proper holistic formation of the individual. These policies included training of teachers, training of Priests as specialists in education fields, school science competition, re-introduction of priests as manager/principals to the secondary schools and proper religious education These unprecedented reforms in Mission Schools under his watch have resulted in Mission schools winning laurels in both local, national and international competitions.

Publications

* ''The nature and identity of the church : Nigerian theological perspectives'', Nsukka (2002). * ''Christian witness : essays in memory of Archbishop Stephen Nweke Ezeanya,'' with Valerian Maduka. Enugu: Delta Publications (2003). * ''Go, make disciples of all nations''. Enugu: Snaap Press (2006) *''Bigard diamond jubilee reflections''. Nsukka: Fulladu (2000).
Pastoral Letters
- # That they may have life (2004) # The Measure of love (2005) # Our Glorious Heritage (2005) # If only you have faith (2006) # Go Make Disciple of All Nations (2006) # You and the Common Good (2007) # The Family and human life (2008) # Our Greatest Legacy (2009) # The Splendour of Prayer (2010) # Gratitude (2011) # The dignity of Labour (2012) # Living Hope (2013) # Catholic Education and National Development (2014) # Democracy and Christian Values (2015) # Blessed are the Merciful (2016) # Blessed are the Peacemakers (2017) # Mary Our Mother (2018) # The Holy Eucharist: Our strength ( 2019) #The Sacraments; Our treasure (2020) #The Priesthood; Gift and Sacrifice ( 2021) #Holy Spirit: Man's Helper and Friend ( 2022) #The Hour of Glory; Suffering in the Life of a Christian (2023)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okeke, Valerian Roman Catholic archbishops of Onitsha People from Anambra State Nigerian Roman Catholics Igbo people 1953 births Living people