Father Anastasius Iwuoho enters seminary at age 11

Intermountain Catholic

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Father Anastasius Iwuoho, a native of Nigeria, told the Intermountain Catholic he was ?a little bright as a child,? and ended up in an elementary school class with his older sister. He was one of 120 boys who entered the seminary at 11, and the only one to be ordained on schedule. IC photo by Barbara Lee

SALT LAKE CITY — When Father Anastasius Iwuoho says he’s spent his life in the seminary, he means it. A native of Nigeria and ordained in 1994 for the Diocese of Orlor there, he entered the minor seminary at the age of 11.

Fr. Anastasius, Catholic chaplain at CHRISTUS St. Joseph Villa, said his current assignment is a natural next- step to what brought him to the Diocese of Salt Lake City in the first place – to gain clinical pastoral education (CPE) at St. Mark’s Hospital. Actually, Fr. Anastasius came from Nigeria via the Diocese of Juneau, Alaska, "where the weather is not very different from the weather in Seattle," he said in an interview with the Intermountain Catholic. After finishing two units of his CPE, Fr. Anastasius contacted the Diocese of Salt Lake City seeking a ministry in health care.

"I have not yet computed the length of time I will be here," he said. "I’m sure it will be some years – I’m still a priest of the Diocese of Orlo – I do love it here."

Planning a trip home soon, Fr. Anastasius looks forward to seeing his parents, his seven siblings (he’s the middle child), and a number of nieces and nephews, some of whom he’s never seen.

The big difference between life in Nigeria and life in the United States, he said, is that "life is laid back at home. Most people in my village work in a mixture of occupations. Some are civil servants, some are farmers. My father was a farmer. Today there are more traders than farmers, and many people are going into the technical and mechanical fields. We are seeing more people who have higher educations. We take life as it comes at home."

The only years Fr. Anastasius didn’t spend in the seminary after age 11 were the years 1999-2000, which he spent earning a Master’s Degree in secondary education at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. He left the minor, or junior seminary at age 17 for a year of apostolic work in a parish, before entering the major or general seminary at 18.

"I don’t remember when I didn’t sense that I had a religious vocation," he said. "It isn’t you who determines that God is calling you, it’s God."

Fr. Anastasius spent eight years in the general seminary – four years studying philosophy and four studying theology. "Every year the spark of my vocation grew brighter and brighter. Many young men leave the junior seminary. When I entered the seminary, I was one of 120 boys in the class. By the time we entered apostolic work at 16 or 17, there were nine of us left. I was the only one left to be ordained when we were supposed to be ordained, but a number of my classmates have returned to the seminary and been ordained."

Convinced he was ordained for ministry and not for any particular place, Fr. Anastasius said he has worked as an assistant pastor in Sacred Heart Parish in Umudiokera and was chaplain of the Charismatic Catholics in the Diocese of Orlo.

"I didn’t leave Nigeria to get my CPE," he said. "I came to get my Master’s Degree and do pastoral ministry in the United States. I have simply been going where God has sent me.

The only religious vocation among his family’s eight children, Fr. Anastasius said his four sisters all attended convent schools, but none stayed.

"My parents have always been very devout," he said. "They pray day and night, went to Bible study, and were members of sodalities. We are just about as Catholic as you can get in a country where Moslems claim 50 percent of the people. We also have many Christian and Pentecostal faiths, and some animists. There is a great deal of intermingling of the faiths and interworship, but we Catholics stay Catholic."