The church construction of Fr Onuorah came to a halt recently for lack of funds. We have just sent him two Gregorian Mass stipends (USD$1600), including one for Angela Martello (who posted on Cathinfo as Nadir), enabling construction works to recommence.That is an impressive church to be able to be built completely for $58,000 US!
Here is what Father wrote to me on August 29:
"I wish to relate to you my discussions with Fr. Ortiz concerning our Church building project in Nigeria.
Below is what he requested from me last week:
Please send me a summary of your project.
What do you have now including faithful attendance, etc.
How did you purchase the building, specifically what do you intend to do.
Estimated cost of the project.
Add a few pictures of the actual building and the project blueprint.
And this was my reply to him:
SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT.
1. We have a small hall we are using as our Chapel but we may be thrown out from there very soon because the owner/donor has died 3 years ago, and last year his children and wife gave us quit notice to leave their father's property as soon as possible since there is no written agreement that it will be given to us permanently. We begged them to give us little time to get another place. They reiterated it heavily in February this year. This is what made us to begin to look for a piece of land to buy. Eventually in April this year we got this land which contains a church structure inside it under construction by the protestants.
The number of the faithful in attendance to our chapel is about 120 persons including children. And we use to have new converts from time to time.
2. How we purchased the building is by appealing to people for assistance and we got unimaginable and amazing donations from people.
3. What we intend to do is to complete the structure already under construction inside the land. We intend to reshape it as a Traditional Catholic Church building. The architectect has has drawn the Church plan. Also we intend to possibly buy another piece of land close to it and add it for enough space since there is little space there. We were attracted there by the church structure under construction because it will be too costly for us to start Church/chapel construction from ground foundation. If we are able to roof it we will pack in there and be having our Masses and other Liturgical functions there even as other works will be going on. This is because they may throw us out any moment.
4. Estimated cost of the project goes as follows:
From the level we are now to completion of block work and concrete work leveling =$US17,000,
Roofing with wood = $US13,000,
Roofing with Iron =$US20,000,
To buy extra piece of land to have enough space =$US8,000.
We are soliciting for donations to build this Traditional Catholic Church for God. Any amount of donation will be very helpful and highly appreciated. We do not intend to get all the funds at once but little by little from different persons..."
Attached are the architect's plans.
Please help Father spiritually and materially if you can.
That is an impressive church to be able to be built completely for $58,000 US!Yes, it is an impressive return on your charity even in this world! Imagine being able to build a church of that quality in the developed world for such a price.
I wish we had more money and could help...
Instead, I will offer what I can; prayers. :pray:
And maybe we can bump this more often so more people see it?.
So, here's the thing. I'm sure that many here would be willing to give something, even if it's smaller amounts ... and the smaller amounts can add up to a very big deal. But it's incredibly cuмbersome to send just a few dollars by whatever means may be available. Could someone who's trustworthy accept smaller amounts by some kind of commonly-available money exchange system (PayPal, Venmo) and then once it reaches a certain amount (hopefully the $800 they need), then that individual could send the entire amount over instead of onsies-twosies. Some people might just be able to give $5 - $10, which doesn't make sense to bankwire over or use some other similar means ... and they're probably deterred from giving. If 80 people here could give just $10, it could take care of their immediate needs. I, for instance, am a BIT more savy than, say, some others, about sending money, and have about $100 myself I'd be willing to contribute, but it's very unclear to me how to send the money. And that proably goes much more for people who perhaps know even less about it than I do.It's a good idea, Lad, and I will suggest it to Fr Onuorah.
So, for instance, I know how to send money by PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, or Crypto. But not even sure where to start here.
I would trust you, for instance, Plenus, to send you my share of the contribution, or perhaps send them to Matthew, who then can put them all together into a single pool and send them in a single transaction.
I'm guessing the info above might work with Zelle (haven't tried it), but then I'm not even sure if they would know what the money was for, etc. And if it does work with Zelle, I'm not sure most people know how to use it or if it's even worth using it (given any fees) for a tiny donation, like $5 or $10. So I think this is deterring the people who could perhaps give smaller amounts.
Looking online, I think that PayPal MIGHT work internationally, and that PayPal is available in Nigeria ... so couldn't Father set up a PayPal account? If he could do that, it would be a breeze for most people to send him donations.
It's a good idea, Lad, and I will suggest it to Fr Onuorah.I'd be willing to send $100.00
However, the idea that many faithful would give small amounts to raise a handsome total, sadly, does not appear to be the case. The 'buy the Benedictines a coffee' fund raiser that I ran a couple of weeks ago which had PayPal and every other facility to donate, only found four donors...
It's a good idea, Lad, and I will suggest it to Fr Onuorah.
However, the idea that many faithful would give small amounts to raise a handsome total, sadly, does not appear to be the case. The 'buy the Benedictines a coffee' fund raiser that I ran a couple of weeks ago which had PayPal and every other facility to donate, only found four donors...
I think we have a different audience here. We just had two people indicate they'd be willing to give $100 ... but are unclear about how to get the money to him. I did send him an e-mail asking if he had PayPal and whether what I started to do in the screenshot above would make it to him.Good on you Lad, thanks for helping with that. Keep us updated please.
Good on you Lad, thanks for helping with that. Keep us updated please.
Father has not written back yet. I imagine he's quite busy.If you could keep me posted. I would like to have some masses offered.
Father still hasn't e-mailed me about whether PayPal donations would get through. As I mentioned, I looked it up and there is PayPal in Nigeria, so it would be good if he set up an account.Thanks, Ladislaus, I'll mention it to him. I thought he would have replied to you as he always acknowledges my emails very promptly. I suspect he has seen your message and put it in the too hard basket and then forgotten about it. Anyway, thanks for your efforts, I will follow up on it.
Thanks, Ladislaus, I'll mention it to him. I thought he would have replied to you as he always acknowledges my emails very promptly. I suspect he has seen your message and put it in the too hard basket and then forgotten about it. Anyway, thanks for your efforts, I will follow up on it.
Well, he probably knows and trusts you, whereas my stuff might have been consigned to the spam folder (can hardly blame him).PayPal does not work in Nigeria apparently. Here is Fr Onuorah's reply:
Perhaps you could ask him directly, since what's important is getting an answer to the question, which is basically whether he has PayPal and if any of us sent money to his e-mail address via PayPal, whether it would get to him. If not, perhaps if he could get a PayPal account, it would greatly facilitate sending money to him from the US, so that people could easily send even smaller amounts.
My latest email from Fr Onuorah:I was thinking I would donate, but was wondering who ordained these men, and whether they were true Priests.
Happy feast of St. Joseph spouse of Blessed Virgin Mary and the worker today my dear brother. Hope you are fine today.
I have started the novena Mass...
Thanks a lot.
On the other hand, I wish to inform you that we have not receiving any further donations from anybody since ending of March this year. Because of this we stopped work in the church building site since then because there is no funds any longer. The Masses you sent were used to settle some outstanding debts, feeding and miscellaneous.
However, I observed that most people donated once and never tried to donate again till now. We are like people hanging in the air at the stage we are now in the Church building project.
We keep praying to God for His mercy and grace.
Thank you so much. God Bless.
Yours sincerely in Our Risen Lord Jesus Christ,
Rev. Fr. Joseph Onuorah.
His priest companion, Fr Michael Chigbata, has also recently appealed for financial assistance for cataract surgery as he is losing his eyesight.
The Benedictines in Brazil are also constantly appealing for help to pay their bills.
These are poor Resistance communities that have sacrificed material welfare in order to hold fast to the Faith.
Is there anyone out there who might feel inspired to take up their cause and arrange a regular collection at their Mass centre or among their friends to provide some regular assistance for these missionaries?
I was thinking I would donate, but was wondering who ordained these men, and whether they were true Priests.Frs. Onuorah and Chigbata were conditionally ordained by Bishop Thomas Aquinas
At this link:
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/06/15/onitsha-catholic-diocese-sanctions-two-priests-for-disobedience/
The following article:
Onitsha Catholic Diocese Sanctions Two Priests for Disobedience
6 years agoThe Catholic Diocese of Onitsha has sanctioned two priests from the diocese for acts of insubordination.The priests; Reverend Fathers Michael Chigbata and Joseph Onuorah were sanctioned for celebrating masses in parts of the diocese, using what they called Traditional Catholic Mass.A press release by the Chancellor of the diocese, Very Rev Fr Prudentius Emeka Aroh which was made available to THISDAY in Awka described them as disobedient priests and called for prayers for them to change their ways.The release said the priests abandoned their legitimately assigned pastoral duties, claiming that they had now joined a group known as Society of St Pius X(SSPX).Aroh said, “They currently operate their illegal activities from Anaku in Ayamelum LGA and they also move about deceiving innocent Catholics that they now celebrate the Traditional Catholic Mass.“They have neither the approval nor the permission of the Archbishop of Onitsha to celebrate any such mass or other sacrament within the Diocese of Onitsha. These two priests are living in disobedience and their faculties as priests of Onitsha Archdiocese have been withdrawn.”The diocese advised the general public, especially all Catholics and other men and women of goodwill not to have anything to do with these two disobedient priests or others like them, saying that those who associate with them do so at their own risk, because they were working against the unity of the church.“We request that all pray for these two disobedient priests so that the light of the holy spirit will shine on them and bring them back to the church”, the chancellor wrote.
So, these 2 "priests" (Chigbata & Onuorah) came out of the Novus Ordo. They also mention in the prior post from Matthew linked above that they have 2 other Novus Ordo "priests" that have joined them. Do you know if they have been conditionally ordained by the SSPX?
Frs. Onuorah and Chigbata were conditionally ordained by Bishop Thomas AquinasThank you WorldsAway. That is helpful information.
Thank you WorldsAway. That is helpful information.Thanks Lads.
Thanks Lads.Thanks Plenus Venter for the additional information. I am glad to hear it, and it might be helpful for others as well.
Not only have these priests been conditionally 'reordained' by Bishop Thomas Aquinas, but they have also been retrained in Tradition for two years by Fr Juan Carlos Ortiz who was previously with Fr Ringrose and is now in his home country of Colombia - see my recent Resistance post of the confirmations of his faithful with Bishop Zendejas. Fr Ortiz was also formerly a seminary professor with the SSPX.