John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan (born 29 January 1944) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He was archbishop of the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

archdiocese of

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

from 1994 to 2019 and was made a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

in 2012. He has served as president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, President of The

Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar or SECAM () is an agency of the Catholic Church that comprises the bishops of Africa. History The SECAM was born, on the occasion of the Second Vatican Council, to express the will ...

(SECAM), and bishop of Ilorin.

Education and early career

Onaiyekan was born in the town of Kabba, in what is now

Kogi State Kogi State is a States of Nigeria, state in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti State, Ekiti and Kwara State, Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, Fe ...

, to Bartholomew and Joann Onaiyekan. He attended St. Mary's Catholic School in Kabba from 1949 until 1956, Mount St. Michael's Secondary School in Aliade,

Benue State Benue is a State in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria. It is popularly referred to as part of the Middle belt. It has an estimated population of about 4,253,641 in List of Nigerian states by population, the 2006 census. ...

, from 1957 until 1962, and Ss. Peter & Paul Major Seminary in Bodija,

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

, from 1963 until 1965. He completed his religious studies in Rome in 1969 and was ordained as a priest on 3 August of that year by Bishop Auguste Delisle of Lokoja Diocese. Ahmadu Bello,

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

of Nigeria's Northern Region, had offered him a scholarship to study abroad. Onaiyekan taught at St. Kizito's College, Isanlu, in 1969. He became rector of St. Clement Junior Seminary in

Lokoja Lokoja is a north-central city in Nigeria. It lies at the confluence of the Niger River, Niger and Benue River, Benue list of rivers of Nigeria, rivers and is the capital city of Kogi State. While the Bassa Nge, Yoruba people, Yoruba Oworo peopl ...

in 1971. He completed his Licentiate of

Sacred Scripture The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

at the

Pontifical Biblical Institute The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies located in Rome. Founded in 1909 by Pope Pius X, it is an institution of the ...

in 1973 and earned his doctorate in 1976. He became Vice Rector of Ss. Peter & Paul in 1977.

Church leader

In October 1980,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

named Onaiyekan to a five-year term on the

International Theological Commission The International Theological Commission (ITC) is a body of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church; it advises the magisterium of the church, particularly the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), a dicastery of the Roman Curia. Its m ...

. In November, he joined the International Catholic/Methodist Dialogue Commission. Onaiyekan was appointed auxiliary bishop of Ilorin in

Kwara State Kwara () is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger State, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the international border with Benin. Its ca ...

, and titular bishop of Thunusuda on 10 September 1982. He received his episcopal consecration on 6 January 1983 by Pope John Paul II. He was named Bishop of Ilorin on 20 October 1984. On 7 July 1990 he was appointed

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

. When that diocese became an

Archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

on 26 March 1994, Onaiyekan became its first archbishop. Onaiyekan was elected vice-president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) in 1994 and president of that body in 2000. During the administration of Nigerian president

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

, and especially during his second term between 2004 and 2007, Onaiyekan spoke out against the regime for its failure to support democratic principles and its corruption. Speaking in a service in his cathedral in 2005 with the president in attendance, he called on Obasanjo to resist the temptation to stand for a third term, which the Nigerian constitution did not allow, and asked him to "resist the deadly temptation to want to remain in power perpetually by hook or by crook". His stance was credited with saving Nigeria from the imposition of a dictatorship. He was named Pax Christi International's 2012 Peace Laureate. On 18 September 2012,

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 ...

named Onaiyekan one of the Synod Fathers for the October 2012 Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization. He was created a

by Pope Benedict XVI in a

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

on 24 November 2012. As

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

he was assigned to the

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church () is a Churches in Rome, church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the Holy orders in the Catholic Church, clergy who is created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal. These are Catholic churches in ...

of San Saturnino. On 31 January 2013,

appointed Onaiyekan a member of the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

(CDF) and a member of the Presidential Committee of the

Pontifical Council for the Family The Pontifical Council for the Family was a pontifical council of the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church from 1981 to 2016. It was established by Pope John Paul II on 9 May 1981 with his motu proprio ''Familia a Deo Instituta'', replacing the Com ...

. He can hold these positions until his 80th birthday. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the

2013 papal conclave A papal conclave was held on 12 and 13 March 2013 to elect a new pope to succeed Benedict XVI, who had resigned on 28 February 2013. Of the 117 eligible Cardinal electors in the 2013 papal conclave, cardinal electors, all but two attended. On th ...

that elected

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. Pope Francis appointed Onaiyekan the

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the diocese of Ahiara in Imo State in eastern Nigeria on 3 July 2013. Pope Francis appointed him to a five-year renewable term as a member of the

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments () is the dicastery (from , from δικαστής, 'judge, juror') of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church as distin ...

in October 2016. He won the election for the position of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) President on 19 June 2007 with 72 votes over Anglican Primate Peter Akinola who had 33 votes. In 2010 he was succeeded by

Ayo Oritsejafor Ayodele Joseph Oritsegbubemi Oritsejafor, known as Papa Ayo Oritsejafor, is the founding and Senior Pastor of Word of Life Bible Church, located in Warri, Nigeria. He became the national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) o ...

. Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Abuja on 9 November 2019.

Honours

* Pax Christi International Peace Award, 2012

Works

*"The Priesthood in Pre-monarchial Ancient Israel and among the Owe-Yoruba of Kabba: A Comparative Study", unpublished dissertation (1976) *"The shariah in Nigeria: a Christian view", ''Bulletin on Islam & Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa'' (1987)

References

External links

* *
Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja official website
* *

a
GCatholic.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onaiyekan, John Olorunfemi 1944 births Living people People from Kogi State Yoruba Christian clergy Nigerian cardinals Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Christian Association of Nigeria Presidents Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI Members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith Members of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments Roman Catholic archbishops of Abuja Roman Catholic bishops of Ilorin 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Nigeria 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Nigeria