Callistus Valentine Onaga, D.D., (born September 29, 1958) is the fifth

Roman Catholic Bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy orders in the Catholic Church, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teachin ...

of the Diocese of Enugu.

Early life and pastoral appointments

Callistus Valentine Onaga is the fifth child of Vincent and Victoria Onaga. His mother was the granddaughter of the Paramount Ruler Chief Chukwuani (died 1930) from Ozalla, Nkanu West Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria. Onaga attended St Anthony's Primary School, Agbudu,

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, from 1964 to 1972. He received his

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

at the Sacred Heart Seminary in Nsude, Nigeria, from 1973 to 1975. He earned his

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...

degree in

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from the

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in Rome in 1987, and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood on August 8, 1987. Within the diocese, Onaga held several positions, including

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

at St. Mary's Church in

Enugu Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

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of Holy Ghost Cathedral, and committee chairman for the inauguration of the Diocese of Awgu.

Episcopal appointments

On February 9, 2009, Onaga was appointed by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

as the Enugu diocesan bishop after the resignation of Anthony Okonkwo Gbuji. He was

as the Bishop of Enugu on May 2, 2009, by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Renzo Fratini. His principal co-consecrators were Archbishop Valerian Okeke and Bishop Gbuji. Later that same day, Onaga appointed

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

Luke Adike as the diocesan Vicar General, and Very Rev. Fr. Ambrose Chineme Agu as the Diocesan Secretary and Chancellor.

Appointments

Onaga is a member of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa as an ordinary. He is a member of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria. At its first

Plenary Meeting A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference or deliberative assembly in which all parties or members are present. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily rel ...

in 2009, this conference recognized his appointment as a diocesan bishop. As the diocesan bishop, Onaga is the legal holder of its microbank.

2010 visit to America

Onaga was the guest speaker for the Igbo Catholic Community USA (ICCUSA) Eighth Annual Convention between April 23 and 25, 2010, held in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

References

Sources

''Catholic Diocese of Enugu'' www.catholicdioceseenugu.org Retrieved 2010-04-24.

''The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church'' www.catholic-hierarchy.org Retrieved 2010-04-24.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onaga, Callistus 1958 births 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Nigeria Nigerian Roman Catholics Roman Catholic bishops of Enugu Living people