Priest-to-be Sampson Onwumere keeps Nigerian ties strong, builds new ones to Baltimore

Note: Archbishop William E. Lori will ordain eight men to the priesthood June 24 at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. The following is a profile of one of those future priests. New profiles of the other new priests will be added to the Catholic Review site daily from June 15 to June 22. Click here to read them.

Deacon Sampson Onwumere, who will be ordained a priest of the Baltimore Archdiocese June 24 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland, said he is most looking forward to the pastoral aspect of his vocation.

“I like being present to the people, listening to them, and finding them in their life situations,” said the 37-year-old native of Imo State, Nigeria. “It’s a kind of pastoral walk – being available for the people’s pastoral needs.”

Deacon Onwumere has spent the last five years in the Baltimore Archdiocese, an experience he describes as “wonderful.”

He enjoyed his pastoral year at Our Lady of the Chesapeake in Lake Shore in particular.

“It was a full-time commitment in the parish,” he said. “I was present for all of the ministries, and it gave me a good perspective on what parish life is all about.”

Deacon Onwumere grew up in an enthusiastically Catholic family in Okigwe, the third-largest city in Imo State, and was an active participant at his parish.
“My family was a very, very good instrument – it was through that grounding that I felt called to the priesthood,” he said, adding that he had also considered becoming a lawyer at one point.
Deacon Onwumere’s family remains in Nigeria. His parents are retired; his father worked as a businessman, and his mother was headmistress of a school. His brother is following in their father’s footsteps in business, and he has two sisters, both of whom work for the government.

“They are all very supportive,” he said, though he added that he is somewhat disappointed that they will not be able to attend his ordination due to immigration difficulties.

They will watch the livestream of the Mass, he said.

Deacon Onwumere noted that Nigeria was a peaceful place as he was growing up and that the kidnappings and skirmishes that are currently in the news are a more recent problem.

“It has been a challenging situation, because it affects where I come from,” he said.

Deacon Onwumere noted that the role of parish priest was very important to the local community in Nigeria, and that he hopes to become a similarly positive influence in whatever parish he is assigned.

He has several hobbies, including watching Nigerian comedy movies and cooking both American and Nigerian food. He makes fufu, a Nigerian food based on cassava, and other “delicacies,” he said

Like many other Nigerians in the United States, Deacon Onwumere is particularly fond of soccer. He is trying to put together a club to play games on his weekly day off, he said.

Deacon Onwumere said he keeps in touch with a large group of Nigerian friends, both priests and laypeople, and in Baltimore and elsewhere.

He has always enjoyed music and during his years in Nigeria played the ogene and the udu, which are a large bell and a sort of percussion-and-wind combination, respectively, as well as other instruments.

To wind down and keep his focus strong, Deacon Onwumere has enjoyed frequent walks in the neighborhoods of the parishes where he has been assigned. Sometimes he prays the rosary on those walks, he added. 

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