Lack Of Humility Turns Authority Into Tyranny, Archbishop Cautions Leaders
By Stella Enenche, Abuja
Archbishop of Abuja, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, has warned that leadership without humility could become tyranny, especially in a society burdened by corruption, injustice, violence, ethnic suspicion and economic hardship.
He gave the warning on Sunday at Divine Mercy Church, Karu, Abuja, during Mass where 75 parishioners received the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Kaigama added that religion without mercy degenerates into hypocrisy and empty ritual.
Archbishop Kaigama, who also blessed the church’s new parish house and office, said the Beatitudes contained in the day’s Gospel reading (Matthew 5:1–12) remain a prophetic call for both Church and society to embrace values that uphold human dignity.
According to him, peace cannot be built on hatred, and development cannot be sustained without justice, stressing that Christians must not reduce faith to outward practices while neglecting compassion for the vulnerable.
He noted that Jesus’ teaching overturns worldly values that glorify wealth, dominance and success at all costs, insisting instead on humility, mercy, righteousness and peacemaking as the true marks of blessedness.
The Archbishop commended the parish community for its growth in barely five years since its creation as a pastoral area and praised the pastoral leadership of the priest-in-charge, Fr. Innocent Omale, who took over from Fr. Primus Okon.
He urged the newly confirmed to see their sacrament as a call to witness and evangelisation, adding that living the Beatitudes is not optional for Christians but the normal lifestyle of every baptised disciple.
Archbishop Kaigama concluded by calling on the faithful to measure life not by worldly success but by fidelity to Christ, praying for God’s mercy and peace upon the parish community.
