Nigeria: Archdiocese of Jos celebrates the life and times of the Servant of God, Gabriel Gonsum Ganaka

Emmanuel Donatus - Jos

On 26 November 1999, an estimated crowd of 100,000 mourners gathered at the Rwang Pam township stadium, Jos, to bid farewell to a man once described as the “golden voice of the Church.” Twenty-five years on, the people of God in the Archdiocese of Jos and beyond gathered once again in what has become an annual ritual to remember and seek the intercession of Archbishop Gabriel Gonsum Ganaka, a Servant of God.

Annual pilgrimage for a beloved Servant of God.

This year’s annual pilgrimage started with a vigil led by Archbishop Matthew Ishaya Audu in the presence of hundreds of pilgrims from all over the Archdiocese of Jos and beyond.

“The yearly pilgrimage is very significant because it helps to create awareness among the people of God about the great man whose (beatification) process is on,” said Fr. Sylvester Dagin, the Postulator for the cause of the former Archbishop Ganaka’s beatification. “It is not only on this memorial day that people engage in this pilgrimage; people come periodically from far and near to his tomb to pray,” he said.

“This 25th memorial of the death of the Servant of God is also my 25th year as a Catholic. I am a Catholic today because of him. My life as a Catholic is tied to his works, and I am very happy that I am a Catholic today,” said one of the pilgrims, Honourable Menshak Chindaba.

For Sr. Mary-Patrick Dimlong of Our Lady of Fatima Sisters, Archbidhsop Ganaka was a mentor and a pillar of support, “Growing up, we always looked up to him as a person who was setting the pace for us as far as living our vocation was concerned,” She recalled. “When I eventually joined religious life, he always encouraged me in difficult moments because it wasn’t so easy for me, especially because I came from a non-Catholic family,” said Sr. Dimlong. She recently celebrated the 56th anniversary of her profession as a religion.

Choir at the 25 anniversary memorial service

Ongoing cause for Beatification.

In 2014, the Holy See, through the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, issued formal permission to begin the process that could lead to Archbishop Gabriel Gonsum Ganaka’s beatification.

Servant of God is the title given to a candidate for sainthood whose cause is still under investigation before being declared Venerable.

According to Fr. Dagin, “This marked a very significant moment in the beatification process; it is when the nihil obstat is issued that the person, whose name is forwarded, is called a Servant of God.”

As the Church awaits a proven miracle, the Postulator called on the people of God to continue seeking the Servant of God’s intercession.

“We want people to understand that Ganaka was a very great man, with normal defects like every other human being, but he struggled and became very exceptional in his struggle against that which is evil. We should continue to pray and ask for his intercession so that gradually, we might get a miracle that Mother Church will be able to understand, accept and authentically link to his intervention,” Fr. Dagin said.

A gentleman, a scholar, and a ‘saint’

Archbishop Gabriel Gonsum Ganaka was often fond of saying, “A priest should be a gentleman, a scholar and a saint, armed with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other; so that while the newspaper announces to him what is, the Bible reminds him of what ought to be.”

Born into an Anglican family in 1937 in Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State, Archbishop Ganaka was an astute administrator, a seasoned shepherd, and a pastor. As an Archbishop of Jos for over two decades, he was known as a fearless preacher and a ‘man of letters.’ He is also the founder of the “Thank you, Jesus” prayer.