Rev. Fr Don Nnagha, of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Owerri-Ebeiri, Orlu Local Government Area, Imo has called for religious tolerance as a tool for national cohesion.
Nnagha, who is the Judicial Vicar of Orlu Diocese, made the call in Orlu on Saturday while officiating at the burial of one his parishioners, late Mrs Esther Okwara.
He said because divine judgement comes after the death Nigerians should jettison religious and ethnic divides and embrace tolerance as one of the ways of making peace with God.
This, he said, would enable an individual earn a fair judgement before God and guarantee peaceful coexistence of Nigerians from various parts of the country.
“In the event of death, everything becomes vanity. Therefore, it is the best to live in peace with one’s neighbour, to love your neighbour as yourself irrespective of ethnicity or religion.
“We are all created in the image and likeness of God and religion or ethnicity are only artificial differentiations that are ephemeral,” he said.
He, however, described Okwara as a devout, dedicated and humane Christian who led a peaceful, religious and committed life.
He prayed God to console her loved ones and to grant her eternal rest.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okwara was a community leader and a philanthropist. (NAN)
