CHARLOTTE — Nigerian Catholics of Igbo heritage experienced a milestone Sunday at Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte as Bishop Michael Martin visited to celebrate Mass.
“What a joy it is to be here,” Bishop Martin told the congregation. “I’m blessed to be able to share this day with all of you.”
It was the first time a bishop has celebrated Mass for the Igbo community since it was organized in the Diocese of Charlotte 12 years ago, and it was also Bishop Martin’s first visit to one of the community’s Masses.
The Igbo people come from the Igboland province in southeastern Nigeria, which is predominantly Christian and has Catholicism as its largest faith community. Currently, Igbo people in the diocese meet for Mass both in Greensboro and Charlotte.
Men, women and young people in bright traditional dress sang responses and hymns in the lyrical Igbo language, set to music and song by a choir of musicians drawn from around the diocese.
Bishop Martin gave the congregation of more than 250 a greeting in Igbo, but confessed he only knew that one word. Still, his homily in English drew laughter and nods of approval.
“The beauty of our liturgical life in the Catholic Church is that even if I don’t understand the words, I know what the words are, and so there’s a communion in our midst regardless of the language we speak, the culture that we embrace,” Bishop Martin said. “Despite it all, God desires for us to be one.”
The bishop’s homily focused on connection and unity among Catholics, and the importance of sharing the good news of Christ with the world. He reminded the congregation that while it is good that they are able to come together as Nigerian Catholics, they also need to share the truth of the Gospel with the world at large.
“You treasure your culture and yet you've come to another culture,” the bishop said. “You have the richness of living in two worlds and showing that Christ is alive in both and wants to be shared in both.”
Igbo people have settled in western North Carolina for many years, but there was no Catholic Mass in their native language until Nigerian Catholics met with retired Cardinal Francis Arinze, also of Igbo heritage, during his 2011 visit to the diocese’s Eucharistic Congress.
He encouraged them to find a way to worship in their language. The first Igbo Mass in the diocese was celebrated in 2014 by a priest from Raleigh at St. Mary's Church in Greensboro.
Father Marcel Amadi, pastor at Our Lady of Consolation Parish, has served as the community’s spiritual director since 2015. The first Igbo Mass in Charlotte, which has a growing Nigerian community, was held in November 2025.
After the Mass, Bishop Martin stopped for photos and conversation and then attended a reception that included a vibrant traditional dance performance by women from the community.
During the offertory, Winner Ndukuba of Monroe, dressed in a beautiful purple traditional dress, presented her 9-week-old baby David to the bishop for a blessing.
“I feel like this whole Mass was a blessing, both receiving a visit from the bishop and just having the chance to worship together,” she said afterward. “Without this Mass, the only time we would have worship like this is if we went back to Nigeria for a visit. This is a great chance for us all to come together, and it’s wonderful to worship in our language.”
Attendees said the Igbo Masses build up the community and help to pass on their traditions.
“It’s important for our children to both experience their lives as Americans and also learn about their Igbo traditions – the worship and language,” said Theresa Isibor, a member of St. James the Greater Parish in Concord. “Being able to come to these Masses is important for me because this is my community, and having the bishop here with us made today’s Mass extraordinary.”
“These Masses are a chance not only to worship but to come together,” agreed Godfrey Uzochukwu, a professor at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro and communications director for the Igbo community. “It’s important to have the chance to worship in Igbo because there are more of us moving to the area, and not everyone who comes speaks English. Access to the Igbo Mass helps make our community stronger, and the faith of our community helps make the diocese stronger.”
— Christina Lee Knauss, photos by Troy C. Hull and Liz Chandler
