Nigeria's Catholic Church held a funeral Mass on Thursday (Aug. 13) for Archbishop Augustine Obiora Akubeze of the Archdiocese of Benin in southwest Nigeria. Thousands of faithful gathered at Holy Cross Cathedral in Benin-City, with the service broadcast live on national television and radio.
Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins of Lagos preached at the funeral, according to Rev. Fr. Michael Nsikak Umoh of the Catholic Church communications unit. Martins told mourners that Christian faith allows grief and hope to coexist — and does not demand the suppression of emotion or yield to despair.
Drawing on the Book of Job, Martins said faith does not offer easy answers or erase the weight of grief. It anchors the soul in a divine person, not in circumstances.
"Job did not say, 'I understand everything or even anything'… He said, 'I know that my Redeemer lives,'" Martins told the congregation, urging the faithful to bring their weariness and unanswered questions directly to Christ.
Turning to St. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, he drew a distinction between despair and Christian hope. The Church does not ask believers to pretend death does not hurt, he said — but death is not the final word.
"We grieve precisely because we loved," Martins said. "Because Christ died and rose again, the grave is not the final chapter, but a threshold toward the promised morning of resurrection."
He also reflected on Akubeze's episcopal motto — Ut testimonium perhibeam veritati ("That I may bear witness to the truth"). From his early years devoted to daily Eucharist through his ministry in Uromi and Benin-City and national leadership within the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, Akubeze's life remained centered on directing hearts toward Christ, Martins said.
He concluded by calling on bishops, priests, civil leaders and families to let the reality of death prompt self-examination and spiritual readiness.
"Ultimately, the Gospel does not ask how much one accumulated, but who ruled one's life and whether one remained faithful to the charge entrusted by God," Umoh said.
