Fr. Richard OMOLADE

It is remarkable achievement that Catholic Hospital, Oluyoro has existed for seventy years. This is seventy years of bringing healing and succour to people. Seventy years of modern health care in the ancient city of Ibadan. I understand there was a time when, together with the University Hospital, UCH, they were the only credible health care providers in Ibadan. Thank God, the landscape has changed and there are other hospitals providing health care today. We, therefore, acknowledge the visionary leadership of Bishop Richard Finn, the first bishop of our diocese for bringing about the birth of this Catholic Hospital, by inviting the OLA Sisters to start the Hospital. We know wherever the SMA fathers are, you are most likely going to find the OLA sisters. The women have always complemented the efforts of the men and together, the two groups have rendered incalculable services to the people of Ibadan and environs.

Our Lady of Apostles (O.L.A) Catholic Hospital was established on 12th March 1956 by Late Rt. Bishop Richard Finn (S.M.A.) and the O.L.A Sisters in the persons of Sister Thomas Moore and Sister Anne Barret. The hospital began as a child welfare and maternity home with three buildings: the office block, maternity home and the nurses hostel. The primary aim of founding this institution was to see to the medical needs of all, especially indigenes who needed good and affordable medical services. Starting in a very small way, the facility consisted of an out-patient department, a clinic and about ten maternity beds in all. Today the Hospital has grown in leaps and bounds, giving secondary medical care, proudly offering the following services in well-equipped facilities: Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Family Medicine, General Surgery, ART Clinic and Counseling, Orthopaedics, Physiotherapy, Paediatrics, ENT Clinic, Dialysis, Gymnasium, Laboratory, Ultrasound scan, X-Ray, ECG, Naprotechnology, Immunization and Vaccination

When the Lord Jesus announced his mission in Luke 4:19-22, care for the sick and down-trodden was clearly spelt out. And throughout his life, he went about healing the sick and bringing relief to those who needed it. His ministry was one of compassion. The mission of Jesus is the same mission that the Church is called upon to continue in the world and that is why, wherever the Catholic Church exists, there will always be hospitals to care for the sick.  For us, hospital ministry is not profit oriented but geared towards making people enjoy the fullness of life. Hence it is the task of the Church to remove all obstacles, especially illness that prevent the flourishing of life. The Catholic Hospital Oluyoro has done remarkably well over the years, and the compound is filled with physical evidence of this development. Today, the hospital is no longer a small clinic or maternity but a full-fledged complex of health care facilities dealing with various aspects of human well-being.  That the OLA Sisters have been involved in this hospital and have managed it shows that they heave taken it as an apostolate and not just a business.

The symbolism of 70 is not lost upon us and needs examining. In our tradition, numbers are not arbitrary, they are windows to another layer of meaning.  Hence, we have such symbolic numbers as 3, 7, 10 and 12. We cannot examine them at this Mass. But the number seven symbolizes completeness and perfection, and sometimes restoration, so also Ten. In the Old Testament, Terah, the father of Abraham (who was not his oldest son), had his first male child at seventy. Cainan, the fourth Biblical patriarch mentioned in scripture, had his first son at the age of 70. Israel in Egypt had its beginnings with Joseph rising in power in Pharaoh's court and Jacob migrating his entire household into the land. A total of 70 Israelites started a nation within another nation that would grow to more than hundreds of thousands by the Exodus.

Seventy elders (not counting the High Priest) composed Israel's great tribunal (Exodus 24:1, Numbers 11:16) which was eventually called the Sanhedrin. It was this body of elders that hated Christ so much that they were the driving force in the New Testament behind the crucifixion apart from Pilate. Seventy disciples were sent out by Christ to preach the gospel to the surrounding area (Luke 10). Overall, the number 70 in the Bible conveys themes of completion and divine empowerment. It symbolizes God’s sovereignty, his redemptive plan for humanity, and the universal scope of his kingdom. As we reflect on the significance of the number 70 in the Bible, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness, his provision, and his ultimate plan for the world.

While it is good to celebrate your achievement and this historic feat, looking forward and planning for the next thirty years is essential.  The achievement of these past seventy years will pale into nothingness if you do not strategize and adapt yourself to the needs of our time. In the complex world of today, the presence of the Church in hospital apostolate must take on a new outlook. That ministry of presence can no longer be occasional, it must be one of the givens of Catholic hospital care.  The involvement of the Sisters can no longer be confined to administration and financial matters, Sisters must be seen in the wards and along the corridors bringing Christ to the sick and taking patients to the one true healer. Catholic hospitals, including management and other staff must be schooled in Catholic culture, buy into it and allow it to shape their practices. Pope St. Paul VI reminds us in Evangelii Nuntiandi that the Church is missionary in nature. She exists to bring souls to God and God to the people. The outreach nature of the Church demands that our hospitals must be outgoing sometimes, especially to those poor areas where health care provisions are lacking or poor. It would not be out of place for our hospital to become an answer to the question, “What would Jesus do?” the answer should be one of bringing relief, hope and healing to people, after the example of Jesus Himself.