The Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Oyo, Most Rev. Emmanuel Badejo, has urged Nigerian youths to shun the consumption of illicit drugs and gambling. Rather, he urged them to make communion, participation and mission of Christ the compass that drives their actions, activities and growth, noting that the presence of youths on social media should be an opportunity for them to change the world for the better.
Badejo stated this during his homily at the Mass to begin the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Catholic Youth Association (CYA) in the Dioceses of Oyo and Osogbo. He urged young people to practicalise the theme of the synodal process, promote the gospel and Christian values in the digital media, embrace and promote church doctrine on human life family and sexuality, shun illicit drugs and gambling, live a life of volunteerism and fall in love with praying.
The cleric, while addressing the mammoth crowd of youngsters at the mass, also paid tributes to Bishop Julius Babatunde Adelakun who inaugurated CYA in 1974 and those who assisted him in making the vision of redefining youths successful.
Badejo, while noting that CYA transformed into what is known today as the Catholic Youths Organisation of Nigeria (CYON), said that the CYA had positively formed, impacted, and transformed the lives and faith of thousands of people in its 50 years of existence.
He further tasked the youths on evangelisation, saying, “As young people, the digital media space is your natural habitat. Jesus Christ needs you to bring him alive to the numerous social media platforms that you inhabit. So, invest more and participate in the media with your spiritual wealth and resources.”
