By Fr. OKHUELEIGBE OSEMHANTIE ÃMOS

The Catholic Diocese of Oyo, on Thursday, November 28, 2025, hosted the Catholic Church in Nigeria and beyond, as she committed the remains of its pioneering indigenous shepherd, Most Rev. Julius Babatunde Adelakun, to the crypt of Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral, Asogo, Oyo, in a funeral ceremony that drew an extraordinary constellation of Church leaders and the faithful. The city of Oyo, accustomed to its calm rhythm, seemed to pause as clergy, religious, and laity converged to pay final homage to a bishop whose life had become part of the architecture of their spiritual memory.

The Funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Bernardine Girls’ Grammar School, the first Catholic school in the diocese and the very ground where Bishop Adelakun was ordained bishop. That choice of venue served not merely as a logistical detail but as a symbolic arc, his episcopal journey began there, and there the Church gathered to commend him to God. The principal celebrant was Archbishop Gabriel Leke Abegunrin, the Metropolitan of the Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province, joined at the altar by Archbishop Adewale Martins of Lagos and the Bishop of Osogbo, Most Rev. John Akinkunmi Oyejola, who preached the homily.

The Mass drew a remarkable assembly of bishops from across Nigeria. Among those present were Most Rev. Gerald Musa, Most Rev. Mark Nzukuwein, Most Revd. Francis Alonge, Most Rev. Felix Ajakaye, Most Rev. Jude Arogundade, Most Rev. Peter Odetoyinbo, Most Rev. Francis Adesina, and Most Rev. Pendo Anselmo Lawani, along with priests, religious, and officials including Fr. Michael Banjo, Secretary-General of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria. Several dioceses sent official delegations, including representatives of Bishops Martin Dada Olorunmolu, Adaji, Bishop G. G. Dunia, Bishop Donatus Ogun, and others whose presence underscored the national significance of Bishop Adelakun’s pastoral legacy. The weight of the episcopal turnout gave the celebration a national character, reflecting the esteem in which he was held.

Both at the wake-keep and the funeral Mass, preachers dwelt on the distinctive Christian character of Bishop Adelakun. They described him as a father with an open door, a shepherd who understood the anxieties of his flock, and a leader who governed without the harsh shadows of power. His calm temperament, gentle firmness, and pastoral courtesy were recurrent themes. They recalled his capacity for forming men for the priesthood, noting that he played a decisive role in shaping five bishops—an achievement that placed him among the quiet architects of the Nigerian episcopate. His leadership style, the homilists observed, bore none of the excesses of office; instead, he carried himself as one who understood that authority is most credible when it bends toward service. His life, they insisted, was not merely admirable but instructive.

When the all said, amidst tears and cheers, Archbishop Adewale Martins performed the last rites before the body of the late bishop was led in procession to the cathedral. The journey from the school grounds to the mother church of the diocese felt like a pilgrimage of gratitude, priests flanking the hearse, religious sisters walking in slow, prayerful rhythm, lay faithful reciting the rosary as though weaving a garland of petitions around the departing shepherd. At the cathedral, the coffin was lowered into the episcopal crypt, a chamber now marked by the quiet dignity of a life poured out in service.

Thursday’s solemnity comes scarcely a month after the funeral of the Bishop Emeritus of Ekiti, also presided over by the Archbishop of Ibadan, marking what many clergy described as a season of deep reflection for the Church in southwestern Nigeria. With Bishop Adelakun's burial, the Diocese of Oyo closes a chapter rich in memory, sacrifice, and pastoral imagination. Yet the tone of the day suggested not despair but gratitude, gratitude for a bishop who gave the diocese not only years but substance, not only leadership but example, and not only governance but grace.

• Fr. Dr. Okhueleigbe Osemhantie Ãmos is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Uromi and a Lecturer at CIWA, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

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