WRITTEN BY KENECHUKWU CHUKWU
The environment and mood at Pope John Paul, the second, Major Seminary, Okpuno, were serene and joyous and the Institution’s hall filled to capacity as they celebrated

one hundred years of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima.
The event brought to an end, this year’s Annual Lecture of the Institution in memory of its patron, Pope John Paul the second.
A guest to the Institution and Auxiliary Bishop of Onitsha Archdiocese, Most Reverend Denis Isizoh, during the anniversary Mass, said the feast was an important one which Christians should use to pray the Rosary for the intersession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
He also urged seminarians of the Institution to live a holy life as they go through their formation years.
Also in their separate comments, the Rector of Pope John Paul the Second Seminary, Awka, Reverend Father Benjamin Ewelu, said the series of lectures and the one hundred years anniversary of blessed Virgin Mary’s apparition at Fatima are important and necessary in building the intellectual and spiritual life of the seminarians in formation.
The President Students Union Government of the Institution, Comrade James Odoh, said the one hundred years anniversary and the lectures will help seminarians bring the true essence of the study and formation of fellow seminarians in the seminary.
The celebration came to a climax with the consecration of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, presentation of gifts to Bishops and offering of prayers.