JOURNALS

ABSTRACT

The Catholic brand of christian gospel that the Europeans brought to Africa came in European garb. The Africans were made to abandon their culture in place of European culture. Thus, Africans abandoned there culture and embraced western culture, even to the point of calling most of there rich cultural heritage evil and accepting whatever name given to their culture by the Europeans. It was at this point that Africans who engaged in traditional religious worship were referred to as 'heathens' and 'idol worshippers'. Among the African/Igbo indigenous priests, Late Msgr. Martin Maduka Okeke saw the need to bring back our rich cultural heritage into Christianity with the understanding that the people whom this gospel was brought to will understand and accept it more if the gospel is to be immersed in Igbo culture. This paper therefore studies the efforts of Late Msgr. Martin Maduka Okeke towards Igbo Catholic christian religion. It was discovered that the culture approach of Late. Msgr. Martin Maduka Okeke brought about inculturation/acculturation, and the quest for African/Igbo identity in Christian religion. This paper suggests and recommends that Igbo Catholic Christians should continue to adopt and practice in Christianity there cultures that are good, as it paves way for better understanding of the Gospel of Christ.