Catholic youths going for the World Youth Day celebration in Krakaw, Poland, this month, have been called upon to portray the Nigerian nation and Church in good light with a view of correcting the negative representation of the country by the Western media.

This however can only be done if the pilgrims comport themselves, and uphold their integrity as good ambassadors of the country and the Nigerian church.

This admonition was contained in a presentation titled: The Integrity of the Nigerian Youth, delivered by Rev. Fr. Zacharia Samjumi, at a preparatory seminar organized for the over 170 pilgrims attending the celebration in Krakaw, Poland.

The programme was organized by the Youth Committee unit of the department of Pastoral Agents of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN). The programme took place at the Daughters of Divine Love Retreat and Conference Centre (DRACC), Lugbe, Abuja.

Fr Samjumi who spoke extensively on: integrity, the traits that determine integrity and the need to emphasize the virtue; and integrity in the context of the World Youth Day Pilgrimage; outlined the qualities expected of the pilgrims while in Poland.

His words: “Our reasons are to strengthen our faith, build communion, share cultural experiences, pray with young people from other countries and by so doing, widen our horizons. We must also state, we will go not only as simple pilgrims, but also as ambassadors representing both the Catholic Church in Nigeria and Nigeria as a nation.”

He continued: “It is by our presence that others will get to know more about the Church in Nigeria and Nigeria as a nation. Let other people not condemn us or hold us in disdain simply because we are Nigerians, we must allow others to judge us by the content of our characters. Thus, we will necessarily need to horn our integrity so as to represent our country very well.”

Emphasizing the need for the delegates to build and uphold their integrity, Fr Samjumi rolled out the dos and donts’ of the journey, the CSN Deputy Secretary General reminded them to take cognizance of the challenges the country is experiencing, one of which ( the Boko Haram) insurgency has put the nation in bad light among the comity of nations.

Stressing the importance of discipline and impeccable integrity in the course of the pilgrimage, Fr. Samjumi declared: “Discipline not in the sense of punishment, but in the sense of controlling one’s appetites, to order them in the course of good, not only for oneself, but also for others.”

He continued: “Living with constrain in itself is a training in building integrity. “... integrity is importantly connected to acting morally, conforming to principles that bear universal value.” He gave the traits that determine integrity to include; conscience, honesty, compassion and empathy as well equality, among others.

Source: Catholic News Service of Nigeria...