Newly appointed Cardinal and Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Grace Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, will arrive the shores of Nigeria on Saturday from the Vatican in Rome.
Pope Benedict XVI had on October 24, 2012 appointed Archbishop Onaiyekan and five others as cardinals.
The new Cardinal will be received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja by the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, and the Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide.
Expected to welcome Archbishop Onaiyekan at the Abuja airport are Catholic faithfuls and residents of the FCT, among several others.
He is expected to proceed from the Airport to Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral where he will celebrate the Holy Mass.
Born on January 29, 1944, Archbishop Onaiyekan is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Abuja and the former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria. He was previously President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and Bishop of Ilorin.
Onaiyekan was born in the town of Kabba, in what is now Kogi State, to Bartholomew and Joann Onaiyekan.
He attended St. Mary’s Catholic School in Kabba from 1949 until 1956, Mount St. Michael’s Secondary School in Aliade, Benue State from 1957 until 1962, and Ss. Peter & Paul Major Seminary in Bodija, Ibadan from 1963 until 1965.
He completed his religious studies in Rome in 1969, and was ordained as a priest on August 3 of that year.
He taught at St. Kizito’s College, Isanlu in 1969.
He became rector of St. Clement Junior Seminary in Lokoja in 1971.
He finished his Licentiate of Sacred Scripture in 1973 and earned his doctorate in 1976.
He became Vice Rector of Ss. Peter & Paul in 1977.
In October 1980, Pope John Paul II gave Onaiyekan a five-year appointment to the Pontifical International Theological Commission.
In November, he joined the International Catholic/Methodist Dialogue Commission.
He was ordained as bishop on January 6, 1983, and became the Bishop of Ilorin, Kwara State.
In 1990, he became Co-Adjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Abuja, and when the diocese became a Metropolitan in 1994, Onaiyekan became the Metropolitan of Abuja.
Archbishop Onaiyekan was named Pax Christi International’s 2012 Peace Laureate.
Archbishop Onaiyekan is known for his peace and reconciliation work across the increasingly bitter Christian/Muslim divide.