A PROFILE OF MOST REV. FRANCIS
FOLORUNSO ALONGE
(Emeritus Bishop of Ondo Diocese)
Bishop Alonge was born on March 1,
1935, being the second of two Children. He was Christened Folorunso and
baptized Francis by Rev. Fr. J. Young, who served in their station from
1933-1937. He was brought up in a home that could in many ways be likened to be
a reflection of the ideal catholic family. His Parents, Pa. Peter Alonge and
Mama Veronica Alonge had a spirituality that was inspiring; their daily masses
and prayer life as well as being active members of the Catholic community of
Ado-Ekiti in the Old St. Patrick Church. All these went a long way to nurture
the seed of vocation in his young mind.
Bishop Alonge is a very quiet person.
A trait he carries up till this day. He is very respectful and takes matters of
the Church very seriously. These values were of course learnt and imbibed both
at home and through catholic education.
He began his primary education at St.
George’s Catholic Primary School, Ado-Ekiti in 1941 and would continue till
1949 before continuing to St. Theresa Catholic Minor Seminary, Oke-Are, Ibadan,
Oyo State.
The desire to respond to the call of
God as a priest is one which began from Baba’s childhood. One particular event
however set the ball rolling in his pursuit of this desire and this was the
Priestly Ordination of Msgr. Anthony OGUNTUYI, on March 24, 1946, the first
indigenous priest from Ekiti at the Old St. Patrick Catholic Church, Ado-Ekiti.
He witnessed this event and a spark was lit in his eleven year old mind.
He was a student at St. Theresa Minor
Seminary from 1950-1955 where he cultivated life-long friendships with Peter
Jatau (who would later be Archbishop of Kaduna), Paul Emoyon (now Monsignor
from Benin Archdiocese), Patrick Ekpu (who would later be Archbishop of Benin)
and Alaba Job (who would later be Archbishop of Ibadan).
In 1956, he proceeded to the Major
Seminary, first in Benin and eventually to its present location as SS. Peter
and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan in 1957.
Bishop Francis Alonge was ordained a
Priest on 29th June, 1963 by Bishop William Field, the Catholic Bishop of Ondo
Diocese. His First assignment was at St. Matthew Catholic Church, Ondo. Indeed,
St. Matthew Catholic Church, Ondo plays a very crucial part in the journey and
life of Most. Rev. Francis Alonge; he worked there for his pastoral year, it
was the place of his first assignment as a priest and would be his residence
upon ordination into the episcopate.
As a newly ordained priest, he was
curate under Rev. Fr. Edward O’ Donovan. After about one year into the
priesthood, he was sent for further studies to the University College of Boston
in the United States and Dublin, Ireland. His sojourn was not one that was a
bed of Roses and he had to show himself a man of courage and perseverance in
the face of numerous challenges.
The Papal bull qualified him in the
following words ‘…you, our dear son, are
endowed with the necessary qualities and are prepared on the local religious
matters… we consider you suitable to be appointed as auxiliary bishop of Ondo
and Titular Bishop of Thignica with all the rights and obligations pertaining
to the office according to canon law.’
Indeed, many years after, we can say
with great confidence and joy that Bishop Francis Folorunso Alonge has been and
still is a blessing and a source of inspiration to the Diocese of Ondo, the
Church in Yoruba land and the Church in Nigeria.
In his thirty seven years as Bishop,
the Catholic Diocese of Ondo has grown, developed and transformed in leaps and
bounds.
He was enthroned bishop of Ondo on
August 22, 1976 as the twenty-first indigenous bishop of the Catholic Church in
Nigeria. Up till his retirement, below are a few of the many achievements the
dicocese has recorded over the years:
· As at when he took over office, there were only eleven Parishes and fifteen priests of whom only one, Rev. Fr. Benedict Adegoke (now Monsignor) was indigenous, the rest were SMA missionaries. As at the last ordination he celebrated on October 2nd, 2009, Baba had ordained over ninety priests
· Apart
from the SMA, there were only three others- the Augustinians (Oka-Akoko), the
De la Salle Brothers (Ondo) and the Sisters of St. Louis (Akure, Ondo, Owo). He
invited more religious orders into the diocese. These include the Salesians
(1982), Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus (1977), Sisters of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary (1988), Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy (1988), Sisters of St.
Michael the Archangel (1996) and Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul
(1988)
Baba Alonge, as he is now fondly
called by many who see in him a father, a grandfather and a reservoir of
wisdom, and rightly so, is not one who would amass the glory for himself. As it
was once said, “Baba might not have written any book because, his life is
enough to read and gain wisdom.” He is a pastor par excellence, a bishop with a
sense of commitment and solidarity with his people and one who always placed
the work of evangelization in the top of his priority.
The appointment of Rt. Rev. Msgr.
Jude Ayodeji Arogundade as the Co-adjutor bishop of Ondo Diocese on 14th
February, 2010 by his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI signaled to many the herald
of a new dawn. Years later, in the new bishop, the people of Ondo Diocese and
indeed Baba himself can say that the wheel of good leadership and pastoral
commitment has not ceased. If anything, it has continued to be better.
In retirement, Bishop Francis Alonge
is a fulfilled man and as the work of evangelization continues under the able
guidance of the new bishop, Baba has never ceased in his endless prayers for
the growth of the diocese. We pray for many more years of grace and peace and
we indeed invoke the protection of Christ upon him always for as his motto as
bishop states, “Kristi l’oluso mi’