Yet another former altar boy was fired up for the priesthood by his service at the altar
By Bridget Spinks
Deacon Emmanuel Valentine Tobechuku Dimobi, from Nigeria, will be among five deacons to be ordained to the priesthood for Perth Archdiocese on 4 March at St Mary’s Cathedral.
For 26 years, Emmanuel has been pursuing his desire to be a priest; a desire first ignited when, as a seven year old altar boy, he saw the example set by his two parish priests, Fr Clement Obianozie and Fr Aloysius Orekie.
“The history of my journey to the priesthood is the story of my life, which is founded on the discovery, loss and rediscovery of that call which God alone can bestow on those He has qualified and chosen to His service,” he said.
“I have come to the realisation that when one is called by God, the call is inescapable and the answer to that call is imperative if one wants to be at peace with himself and with God,” Emmanuel said. In 1985, on the cusp of his teenage years, Emmanuel entered the diocesan Minor Seminary in Nigeria for high school.
After six years there, he undertook two years of pastoral placement in St Patrick’s, Agulu and St Dominic’s, Adazienu in Nigeria, followed by a year at the diocesan spiritual and formation centre in Okpuno Awka, Nigeria.
When he completed this year successfully, he obtained entrance to one of the major seminaries in Nigeria: the Bigard Memorial Seminary in Enugu.
Over the next four years, Emmanuel completed a BA in philosophy and was posted for a two month pastoral placement to four different parishes including St Mark’s, Abagana; Madonna Catholic Church, Agulu; Immaculate Heart Catholic Church, Uga; and St Theresa’s, Isuofia.
As God would have it, he said, he then undertook a year of discernment and French language study at Village Française du Nigeria in Badagry, Nigeria.
In 2000, Emmanuel went to Rome for further studies, having received a scholarship through the Propaganda Fide (Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples).
After four years in Rome, he obtained a Bachelor and Licentiate in Communication from the Gregorian University and a Bachelor in Theology from the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum).
While in Rome, he contacted Fr Robert Cross, who was studying at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and is now Archbishop Hickey’s executive assistant, through Geraldton Bishop Justin Bianchini and was invited to the Geraldton diocese.
Emmanuel then spent 18 months there in 2005-06 which he said marked a new dawn in his journey to the priesthood and where he gained immeasurable pastoral experience, staying at the Cathedral parish and travelling around the diocese.
The time was ripe, he said, for further discernment and proof that he was really called to be a priest.
He returned to Nigeria in mid-2006 where he received the further inspiration he needed to cement his conviction.
“I was led to a total surrender and submission to God’s divine will.
“In the midst of the contending and confusing ‘yes and no’, God proved Himself and manifested His power by making what seemed impossible to be possible through the instrumentality of my Archbishop, Barry Hickey,” he said.
“God is always a God of impossibility and He always works in mysterious ways beyond human comprehension.”
In August 2007, Emmanuel returned to Australia to start a Master of Arts in Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle and to continue formation at St Charles’ Seminary.
In July 2009, Emmanuel was posted to Mary MacKillop parish in Ballajura for a year of pastoral placement and was ordained to the Diaconate on 20 August at this parish.
For the last six months, he has been on placement at Floreat Wembley parish assisting Fr Wayne Davis. These years of formation and discernment have not been smooth, he said.
“The road was thorny, turbulent and full of obstacles and impossibility,” he said.
“Whenever the going gets unbearably tough, I always renew my trust in the God of miracle and impossibility,” he said.
He said his conviction has been that God knows the way for him and His plan is perfect.
“He saw me through and assisted me to jump all the hurdles with His sustaining grace.
“My secret has been and will continue to be an unconditional trust and faith in God in the midst of all odds,” he said.
His ordination on 4 March 2010 will mark the end of his seemingly endless journey to the priesthood, he said, and a new beginning in his life.