St. Edward's welcomes new priest

The Rev. Jude Onogbosele, a priest of the Diocese of Uromi, Nigeria, arrived in Sisters last week to become the new pastor at St. Edward the Martyr Catholic Church in Sisters.

"This is a challenge for me. I am excited about it," the Nigerian native said.

"I want to work with the people of this community to make the church a place where people can find spiritual satisfaction for themselves," he said.

Born in 1976, Father Onogbosele's journey to Sisters from Nigeria has been a long one.

He was raised in a town of 120,000 called Irrua, one of eight children in a Catholic family. He and his twin sister were sixth and seventh in the birth order.

His father was a coordinator in the government's agriculture program and his mother the head mistress of an elementary school. Needless to say, he and his siblings were good students.

He transferred to a larger school called Annunciation Catholic College, with students from the ages of 11 to 17. When he was 18, he decided to become a

priest.

"It was a compelling calling, and I couldn't resist it. Even now, I am still responding to it," he said.

Upon a favorable recommendation by his pastor, he was admitted to seminary school for further education and training.

The road to Sisters then began with a year of preparatory work to see if he really wanted to continue, and to give the church a chance to evaluate him. "The authorities wanted to understand the passion, personality and the commitment of each person," he noted.

Nine years of study and training followed at the Saints Peter and Paul Major Seminary in Bodija Ibadan, the largest city in West Africa, with 1.3 million people.

He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy, a bachelor's degree in Christian theology and did several internships at the diocese.

Father Onogbosele was ordained in 2003. He ministered for two years in Nigeria as an associate pastor before heading west, across the ocean toward Sisters to study canon law at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada.

There, he obtained a master's degree and a license to practice and teach canon law in the areas of marriage, church administration and management.

In 2008, the next step in his journey came when he moved to Manassas, Virginia to minister under the Arlington Diocese. He also continued his studies in a doctoral program at the Catholic University of America, Washington D.C. He is working on his dissertation to complete the degree.

Nigeria is a country about the size of California and Texas combined, he said, with 150 million people. It is located on the west coast of Africa, and gained independence in 1960.

He misses his family and friends, but with Facebook, Skype and e-mail, stays in touch. He made one visit in 2008 and hopes to return again soon.

"They are proud of me and supportive," he says.

Besides his duties at the Sisters church, Father Onogbosele will also serve as Judge Pro-Tem in the Marriage Tribunal of the Diocese of Baker.

For recreation, he enjoys playing and watching soccer, listens to music (western and African) and came to like lake fishing in Virginia.

He will live in Sisters.