BABY FOUND DEAD, BURIED DECENTLY BY A CATHOLIC PRIEST

Baby found dead by the Riverbank, buried decently by a Catholic Priest 

By Terver Adom

The unknown child would have shared similarities with the biblical Moses but the difference is that he was brought out from the river bank dead.

Sometime in the first week of January 2022, Rev. Fr. Don Psalm Msugh Kete, the Pastor of St. Martin's Mbape, Shangev-ya, Kwande Local Government Area, in the Catholic Diocese of Gboko in Benue State was on his way back from a burial. He was flagged down by some youths by a Riverbank. 

When Rev. Fr. Kete stopped, the youth told him someone had left a child by the bank of the river. On a close look, a hairy baby boy was wrapped in a piece of Cloth, Nylon and placed in a Carton Box. 

The Carton was brought out. The body of the boy was examined. He was dead! His nostrils were running with blood. He probably died few moments before the examination.

He had no known parent. Kete as a Reverend Father decided to father him. He had no name. Kete gave him the name Moses. Because he was brought out from the water. He also called the mortician who took the corpse for embalming. He made a coffin too.

Fr. Kete also reported to church authorities. He got in touch with the traditional institution. And the kindred head gave consent that the boy should be buried in his compound.

In the evening of the same day, the compassionate Fr. Kete hired an Ambulance that conveyed the remains for burial. Motorcycles in a long queue led the way for the Ambulance blaring horns.

So that a child must have a surname, Kete whose first name is Samuel adopted the child. The boy was then buried as Moses Samuel. He was buried according to catholic rites by his father; Reverend Father Kete. A lot of people cried. A barren old woman wished the boy would have been given to her alive as she cried uncontrollably. 

Fr. Kete wept profusely with unending tears as he carried out one of the corporal works of mercy: "to bury the dead."

Why I may not judge the mother of Moses, may the innocent Soul of Moses Samuel, and the Souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.