The President of the Canon Law Society of Nigeria named auxiliary bishop of Awka Diocese

Pope Francis on May 30 named Fr. Jonas Benson Okoye as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Awka in Nigeria. The archbishop-elect was born in Kaduna on 25th January 1963. He was ordained a priest on 29th August 1992, after completing his Philosophy and Theology studies at the Bigard Memorial Seminary at Ikot-Ekpene from 1983-1992.

Fr. Okoye holds a Master’s degree  in Theology and Canon Law from the Catholic University of West Africa, in Port Harcourt, Nigeria; a Licentiate in Canon Law from St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, Canada; and a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University of Rome.

After his ordination, he served in various roles including as parish priest, as  Diocesan Judicial Vicar and he is the President of the Canon Law Society of Nigeria since 2009.

The Diocese of Awka was created on 10th November 1977 under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Onitsha.

The auxiliary bishop-elect will be assisting Bishop Paulinus Ezeokafor in the administration of the diocese which has a population of 1,5 million, 52 percent is catholic. In 2013, the diocese had 165 parishes served by 313 diocesan priests, 5 religious priests, 15 male religious and 152 women religious.