The Catholic Diocese of lssele-Uku is made up of a very few semi-urban towns and a good number of villages whose occupants are predominantly poor farmers and petty traders. They are a class of people who stand in need of any kind of support that will help to alleviate their poverty and improve their general standard of living.
The financial support which lssele-Uku Diocese has received so far from the Diocese of San Diego through Missionary Cooperation Plan has helped the Diocese immensely, especially in the areas of formation of priests and catechists, special organized charity to the poor by supplementing the local contributions of the Diocese of lssele-uku. It has helped to train fifteen seminarians in formation and forty-two catechists in the diocese’s Emmaus School of evangelization, where interested individuals are trained to assist in different lay ministries in the evangelization of the people in parishes.
With such financial assistance, the Diocese was also able to offer support to orphanages including scholarship for some orphans, and to embark on the project of improving the health care facilities, especially in the village hospitals. The pandemic has worsened the situation in these areas. The Diocese last year focused on palliatives to poor families and scholarship to some schoolchildren whose parents lost their lives, jobs or means of livelihood.
The Diocese of lssele-Uku is ever grateful to the Diocese of San Diego for the immense support through Missionary Cooperation Plan.
The Catholic Diocese of lssele-Uku, Nigeria was assigned to St. Pius X Church, Jamul in 2017 and St. Timothy Church, Escondido in 2018 for Missionary Cooperation Plan.
– Bishop Dr. Michael O. Elue, Bishop of Issele-Uku and Fr. Augustine Odu, Director of Missions office