Early Life
August 29, in the year of the Lord, 1953, barely 55 years ago, began a history. To talk of “beginning”, however, one must confess, is only from a human point of view, because the plan of God is eternal and He had eternally ordained His designs. The prophet Jeremiah expressed it classically: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you; I appointed you as prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5). After a set of twins and then a boy, so was it that at the birth of our new bishop, his parents, Mr Polycarp Ukwuoma and Mrs. Beatrice Ukwuoma, both of blessed memory, of Ndiohiaowerre Duruewuru Amucha in Njaba Local Government Area, Imo State, staunch Catholics and god-fearing couple, named him Toochukwu. His father fondly called him TooGod. There is something in a name. And his life has become and has been one of praise to God, for he is now called to head the God-praising team in Orlu.
His baptism was on 11th October 1953 at Holy Trinity Parish, Orlu, by the late Bishop Nwedo who was the then parish priest. What Providence that he now occupies the Cathedral of the very Church where his journey of faith began. While he received his First Holy Communion at St. Patrick’s Amucha in 1965, he was confirmed at the same place in 1969 by the late Bishop J.B. Whelam.
Augustine lived a normal developmental life like his peers. In the family, he distinguished himself as a very calm but calculated boy. “Toochukwu”, attests his eldest sister, Ezinne Patricia Ezeala, nee Ukwuoma, “has always been the calm but very determined type. Even when he was sick, he seemed unruffled. Strongly determined, he accomplishes whatever he sets himself to do with exactitude and thoroughness. Neat and decent, not the crying type, not the fighting type, he was not noisy. As a child, even if he were to fight for his right, he would do it so calmly that the onlooker would enjoy the scene. In his calmness, one has the impression that he wanted to understand well what he was about to do in order to do it properly. I still remember that when it was his turn to wash the dishes, you could be sure that Mama would never complain again about that, because he would do his portion of work in all thoroughness, neatness and orderliness”.
Academic Life
In 1961, he began his primary school at St. Joseph’s Catholic School Umuna. His father, then a policeman, was successively packing his baggage, as he was transferred from place to place. He worked in Owerri, Enugu, Ngwa, Mbawsi where he opened the police post. TooChukwu followed him even to the Efik land; to Abak, Ikot Okoro, etc, from where he picked the Efik language. One would say that the desire for priestly life sparked off while he followed his father to the Efik land. There in the hinterland, because there were no priests, Mr. Polycarp served as the community “priest” as it fell on him on Sundays to conduct the service and to lead the community in the recitations of the Rosary. From a biblical typological understanding, the activities of his father then could be understood as figurative; a “promise” that points towards a fulfilment, when his own son now becomes the chief priest and shepherd of the diocese. However, this following around constituted also a little set back in the flow of the boy’s academic history as he changed school almost every year. This, together with the setting of the war, made him to begin his secondary education only in 1969 when he was admitted into St. Peter Claver’s Seminary Okpala. The civil war also caused a little break. At the end of the war in 1970, the Seminary was re-opened at St. Mary’s Seminary Umuowa Orlu. He went back to Okpala Seminary in 1972 and successfully completed his junior seminary course in 1975.
He was posted to Ezinihitte West Parish, Mbaise in 1975 for his long apostolic work as a junior seminarian, in the then Owerri diocese, where he worked under Rev. Fr. Anthony Uwakwe.
October 16, 1975, the journey to the priesthood in earnest as a senior seminarian began. He was sent to Bigard Memorial Seminary Enugu to begin his studies in Philosophy, by the late Bishop Mark Unegbu. Along with many others, he relocated to Bigard Memorial Seminary, Philosophy campus, Ikot Ekpene at its inception in 1976 as one of the pioneer students. That was also the beginning of the rapport with Bishop Ochiagha who was the pioneer rector. The rector, together with the pioneer students, confronted the demands of opening up a new institution in the extreme conditions that are characteristic of pioneering. He graduated from Ikot Ekpene in 1979, having completed a memoir titled “The Political Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes” and obtained the Bachelor of Philosophy degree of the Pontifical Urban University, Rome.
In October 1979, he was sent back to Bigard Memorial Seminary Enugu, still by Bishop Unegbu to begin his theological studies. At Bigard, he was once the first Auxiliary, helping the formation team in their dealings with the students. Within the period of his studies at Enugu, he was installed Lector on 20th December 1980 and an Acolyte on the 19th December, 1981. He again obtained another Bachelor’s degree in Theology from the Urban University Rome, having written as title of memoir: “The Problem of Suffering in the Book of Job”.
1981 saw the inauguration of Orlu diocese. Just around the same time, death struck in the father’s compound. The head of the family, Mr. Polycarp Ukwuoma, was called to glory on Feb. 13th 1981. Attests Mrs. Pathy Ezeala: “I remember vividly the day Bishop Ochiagha, newly consecrated, visited the family for the first time. Papa was lying in state. He drove in, said prayers and blessed the corpse before leaving. Toochukwu was beside, sorrowful but composed. Who, but God, could think that the newly consecrated bishop, Ochiagha, was standing with his successor to the throne of a diocese then freshly inaugurated”.
And so it happened that the ordination to the diaconate was had when the family was still mourning as the father was not there on 18th December, 1982. July 30, 1983, he was ordained priest by His Lordship, Most Rev. Dr. Gregory Ochiagha. One still remembers a popular phrase in the welcome song by the St. Patrick’s parish choir where they sang: “Polycarp, ngwo I kuru agabawala mmanya”, which translates: Polycarp the palm tree you planted has begun to give the wine. Typology has reached its full cycle. ‘Type’ has become ‘reality’. ‘Promise’ has become ‘fulfilment’.
Priestly ministry
Immediately after ordination, he was sent to St. Gregory’s Parish Amaigbo, the mother parish from which Amucha parish was created few months earlier. As Providence would have it, St. Gregory’s parish was vacant, following the departure of Rev. Fr. Cajetan Onwujiariri to further studies. Providentially again, Fr. Onwujiariri is currently his home parish priest. So he began immediately as the priest in charge of the parish for few months, when he was posted to St. Thomas parish, Nkwerre as the parish priest towards the end of 1983 where he worked till 1992. In 1992, he became the administrator of Holy Trinity Cathedral for just few months (to have a view of the Cathedral environs?) before travelling to the United States, to study Clinical Mental Health Counselling at the Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles and the University of Akron, Ohio. At the States, he availed himself of the study leave to engage in pastoral ministry in the following capacities: 1992 to 1995, he was Associate pastor, St Ignatius parish Los Angeles; 1995 to 1999: Priest in Residence, Annunciation parish, Akron, Ohio; 1999 to 2002: Hospital Chaplain, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Savannah, Georgia. He defended his doctoral thesis, titled “The Sources of Stress for Nigerian Priests” and obtained his doctorate degree in Clinical Mental Health Psychology in May, 1999.
On his return, he was posted to St. Theresa’s parish Uli as the rector where he is till his appointment as the bishop.
Other ecclesiastical offices held:
Dean, St Theresa’s Pastoral Region, Uli, from 2002-2008
Member of the Faculty Examination Board (Vicariate, from 2004 till date).
Head of the Silver Jubilee Souvenir Committee of Orlu Diocese (2005-2006).
President, Association of Priests of Isu Clan (APRIC), 2004 to 2008
Lecturer in Psychological Sciences; Seat of Wisdom Seminary, Owerri from October 2002 till date
His hobbies include Soccer, Volley Ball and Reading. At his nomination, Msgr. Augustine chose as the motto in his coat of arms “diligere sicut dilexit Christus”, which translates “to love as Christ loved”, for according to him, “Our world would be a better place if we love selflessly as Christ loved us”. With his ordination and enthronement, Msgr. Augustine becomes the second bishop of Orlu diocese and the Chief Shepherd of the Catholic diocese of Orlu. May God be praised (K’anyi Toochukwu). |
