A well-researched work! Fr. Cornelius has put so much time, energy and skill into this book and it is my sincere wish that bishops, priests, formators, and seminarians get a copy of this book for both informative and formative study. I hope it will not just form part of our already bulky libraries but will be seriously and conscientiously read in view of formation towards transformation. A million thanks to the author for this soul-searching contribution towards an integrated formation for our seminarians in Igboland. If this challenge is taken seriously, the face of the priesthood in Igboland shall be renewed. Sr. Theresa Eke Clinical Psychologist & Formator, Daughters of Charity, Eleme, Portharcourt The Future of the Catholic Priesthood in Igboland: Dangers and Challenges Ahead is a compelling book on the problems of the Catholic priesthood. The book makes it clear that as in Europe and America, priests in Nigeria sometimes constitute a source of great worry to the Church. The main reasons for priestly misbehavior among Igbo priests are wrong motive, as well as deficient training. The book calls for purity of intention among aspirants to the priesthood. Only Jesus Christ's ideal of the priesthood as service is the true model. In it, Fr. Cornelius combines two apparently opposing styles of a bestseller and a research work. Let this book be read by all who want to see a drastic improvement in the quality of priests. Rev. Fr. Dr. Augustine Oburota Rector, Pope John Paul II Major Seminary, Okpuno, Awka

Today, we can no longer hide under the pretence that the grace of God alone suffices to make one a good priest. A close study of the history of priestly formation has shown that not just the training of priests can ensure an authentic priest-product, rather a continuous effort to adapt the training to the current world situation so that priests would be in the position to discharge their duties effectively. Such readiness to adaptability should, of course, not lose sight of the meaning and function of the priest as revealed in the person of Jesus: a service to the world. In the bid to assess the models for the training of priests in South-eastern Nigeria, the author using a historical-critical method traced the history of the models and events that shaped the current modules for the training of priests in South-eastern Nigeria. At the end of the historical research, he proffered some suggestions for improvement, amendment and solidification of the training of priests in the area. As one of the younger African churches, the examination of the training of priests in South-eastern Nigeria will also serve as a paradigm or typology for understanding the dynamics and the process of training of priests in other African countries, since most of these local churches share relatively similar historical, cultural, economic and socio-political circumstances.

In Africa and the New Face of Mission, Ebelebe argues that the mission theory and practice of the Irish Spiritans in Igboland (1905-1970) was forged in the socio-political and faith environment of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Ireland; an environment that produced a Church that was sacramentized, devotional, conservative, and clerical. It was this Church that the Irish Spiritans took to Igboland, and the Church that has largely endured there until now. The author considers this regrettable and calls for inculturation as the only way forward. He highlights the significant contribution of the Igbo Catholic Church to the growing pool of missionaries from the South and argues that for this Church to be truly Igbo, it must be selective in what it reclaims from its Irish Heritage and must draw from the resources of Igbo traditional culture and religion. In this way, the Church can better equip its growing number of missionaries to other nations. Book jacket.

The Conflicting Influence of the Christian Messages in Igboland By: Rev. Fr. Dr. Michael K. Onyekwere, SDV The Conflicting Influence of the Christian Messages in Igboland examines how the homogeneity of a people called the Igbos was destroyed. What they held as sacrosanct degenerated under conflicting and pluralistic Christian messages, thereby replicating the Babel experience in Genesis. With this book, Rev. Fr. Dr. Michael K. Onyekwere, SDV wishes to draw readers’ attention to identify the reasons why there is a breakdown of the values that gave identity to Igboland, threatening their identity as one people. He hopes to offer some solutions and leave some room for further work to be done in the area of conflict management and ecumenism.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the problem of religious intolerance has become a worldwide problem. In todays pluralistic society, the dialogical tension between openness and identity has become a major challenge for interreligious dialogue and peaceful co-existence. This tension is expressed in the question, Can one maintain ones own religious identity without one closing oneself off from the other? This question is central to the challenges posed on how religious education can contribute to sustainable peace in Nigeria and the world over. In this book Stella Nneji critically assesses the various models of religious pedagogy (mono-religious, multi-religious and inter-religious) by asking how these models relate to the dialogical tension between openness and identity in Nigeriaa nation perceivably confronted with an enduring history of post-colonial strife, religious intolerance and violence. The contention is that the mono-religious and multi-religious models, which, while dominant in current practice and in academia, nevertheless fall short of expressing the authentic challenges and opportunities religious intolerance presents in Nigerian multi-religious/cultural context. In this connection, this book provides a clear notion of the theological foundation, principles, and framework of inter-religious education and a practical guide for authentic dialogue in a plural context. She calls for a paradigm shift for confessional religious pedagogy to a model of inter-religious learning as incorporated within the hermeneutical-communicative education. On this basis, the book proposes a new model for the role of religious education in Nigeria. This model in a critical-enculturated way, attempts to recognize the tensions of authentic religious difference, presupposing a broad spectrum of difference in the classroom in a way that also incorporates genuine religious encounters and expressions of identity.