Onitsha Shanahan Day 2019

This annual event begins with a football match, arts and crafts competitions and school debates to promote the legacy of Bishop Shanahan.  There is also an enactment of the arrival of the young Joseph Shanahan by canoe on the great River Niger, bringing to mind the hazardous journeys of the early missionaries in their efforts to bring the Good News to the ends of the earth.  Then comes the Rosary Procession from Shanahan Steps (Missionary Gate)  led by the students of Holy Rosary Girls Secondary Scool, Nsugbe, right up to the Basilica, around the grounds and into the Cathedral, consecrated by Bishop Shanahan in 1936.  At the homily of the Mass, Rev Fr Prudentus Emeka spoke powerfully of the Holy Eucharist as the source of Bishop Shanahan’s ministry, emphasising how people draw strength from the Eucharist to accomplish their mission in the church and in the world. At the end of Mass there was a special blessing for the sick and people with special needs. Many people also knelt to pray at Bishop Shanahan’s grave.  The day closed with prayer for the success of evangelisation under the protection and guidance of  the Blessed Virgin Mary, Star of Evangelisation and Mother of the church

By Sister Catherine Asomugha (MSHR)