….Asks them to defend church
By Uchenna Eletuo
The Catholic Church on Saturday reiterated its reliance on the knights to protect and guide the church against threats.
It stressed the point at the investiture of 125 members of the Knights of St. Mulumba to the order of 3rd Degree.
The Commissioned knights were drawn from the Lagos Archdiocese, Ijebu Ode and Abeokuta which make up the Lagos Metropolitan Council
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that, the event to bless, decorate and handover the paraphernalia of office to the deserving faithful, was held at the St. Leo Cathedral church Ikeja.
The Chief Celebrant, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ayeni who conducted the Mass alongside the other three priests, charged the knights to continue to project good ethos that the sect was known for.
Ayeni, who doubles as the Chaplain of the sect, said that the church as a body needs the support of the Commissioned officers as the defenders of faith to expand the Gospel to the yet unreached people.
According to the priest having found the knights worthy to be decorated with the 3rd degree that the church expects them to display the honor and integrity of the sect.
“As torch and armour bearers of the church it behoves them to protect the church’s tradition and defend polices that promotes humanity and rejects ones that are anti human both in the church and society,” he said.
The Metropolitan Grand Knight, Lagos Metropolitan Council, Sir Don Ezeh tasked the officers to rekindle zeal in the body’s missions to the public.and the church.
Ezeh, described Knighthood as a devotion that compelled people to exhibit integrity, moral ethos, selfless service and the application of self time and material resources to serve others.
The supreme Knight, noted that, it took the church and the officials a period of ten years of observation and worthy conducts, before they were found worthy to ascend the 3rd degree level.
“It is your obligation to be of exemplary lifestyle and remain role models to the younger generation in the church and in the society.
“We have the task of projecting the church in every sphere let us not lose focus of the tradition of the founding fathers,” he said.
Also Speaking at the event, another Supreme Knight, Mr Charles Mbelede, said that, the sect has entrusted the protection of the church’s tenets to a crop of officers of the higher order.
Mbelede, regretted threats faced by the church in recent times, urged the officers to pool resources domesticate missions in troubled areas to give potential victims a sense of belonging and help to nip crisis in the bud especially in the Northern areas of the country
