CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter Jugis announces that Father Francis Olalekan Raji, of the Missionary Society of St. Paul of Nigeria, has been assigned parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte, effective July 13.
Father Raji has ministered as a priest for 15 years, including serving as a parochial vicar in the Diocese of Minna, Nigeria; director of publications for the Missionaries of St. Paul; president of St. Paul Ranch in Nigeria, where he enjoyed raising livestock and planting food crops; and rector of Our Lady of Undoer of Knots Shrine in Iperu, Nigeria.
He studied agribusiness, entrepreneurship and microeconomics at the Pan Atlantic University in Lagos, Nigeria, and the University of Oxford in London, respectively. This education enabled him to focus on youth empowerment and food production in Nigeria.
A promoter of the devotion to Mary Undoer of Knots over the years, he believes many problems can be turned around for good with a simple novena to Our Lady.
“I am impressed by the awesome orthodoxy, deep faith and piety I find among the parishioners of my new parish and I am happy to work in the Diocese of Charlotte,” Father Raji said.
— Catholic News Herald