Fr. Emmanuel-Garet Ifeakor

Father Emmanuel-Garet N. Ifeakor, CCLD, PhD, was born in Nigeria. He is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, Nigeria, and a fidei donum priest to the Archdiocese of Louisville. In his journey to the sacred priesthood, he studied philosophy and theology at Pope John II Major Seminary, Okpuno – Awka (2000 – 2004) – affiliated with the faculty of philosophy of Pontificia Università Urbaniana, Roma – and Blessed Iwene Tansi Major, Onitsha (2005 – 2009) – affiliated with the faculty of theology of Pontificia Università Urbaniana, Roma – respectively, where he earned with Summa Cum Laude bachelor’s degrees in both Philosophy and Theology. He obtained an advanced diploma in Mass Communication with Distinction from Enugu State University, Enugu, in 2004. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (B.A Hons) from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (2005).

Father Emmanuel was ordained to the sacred priesthood on Saturday, July 11th, 2009, at Our Lady of Assumption Cathedral Nnewi by the then Apostolic Nuncio to the Central African Republic and Chad, Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, who is currently serving as the Apostolic Nuncio to the Czech Republic and the titular Archbishop of Novica. After a one-month pastoral experience at St. James Catholic Church, Nnewi, he was assigned to work at St Paul’s Seminary, Ukpor, where he served in different capacities. He was appointed the financial administrator of the Seminary from 2009 – 2012. Later, he was appointed the Vice Rector and Academic Coordinator (Registrar) of the same school, 2012 – 2016. Within this period, he served as the director of Vocations of the diocese from 2012 – 2016. He was a member of the Diocesan Curia (2012 – 2016). He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Seminary magazine – Chronicler Magazine – from 2012 – 2016. Besides, he taught Religion, Latin, Computer, and Economics to the students. As part of his ongoing formation, Fr. Emmanuel was in the Holy Land and Rome in April 2012. He obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Education, PGDE, from National Teachers’ Institute, Kaduna, in 2012, and earned a master’s degree in Education from African Institute for Critical Creative and Caring Community of Inquiry, P4C Enugu, ATCOI, affiliated with Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA, in 2014. He was appointed a member of the 2015 Nnewi Diocesan Second Synod Central planning Committee and the Secretary, Research, Documentation, and Publication Synod sub-committee. He was a delegate to the Synod and was also appointed a rapporteur of the Synod. In 2016, he authored two books, Priestly Fraternity (edited work) and Academic Coordination in St Paul’s Seminary, Ukpor. He was elected the Secretary of Nnewi Diocesan Priests’ Association (NDIPA), 2010 – 2016.

Having exercised his priestly ministry in different capacities in his diocese for seven years, his then bishop, Most Rev. Hilary Paul Odili Okeke sent him to Rome for postgraduate studies to specialize in Classics and Christian Letters. While in Rome, he was appointed the Coordinator of Nnewi Diocesan Priests in Italy and Switzerland (2017 – 2022). He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Classics and Christian Letters, LCCB, from the prestigious Università Pontificia Salesiana, Rome, in June 2019. In June 2021, he earned a Licentiate in Classics and Christian Letters, LCCL, with Summa Cum Laude in the same Pontifical University. Consequently, on 14th  October 2021, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the University by the Rector Magnificus, Prof. Andrea Bozzolo, SDB, in recognition of the excellent result obtained at the end of his Licentiate Studies. He successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on March 19, 2024, Summa Cum Laude, and was conferred a Doctorate of Classics and Christian Letters, LCCD, PhD. For the second time, on October 23, 2024, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the University by the Rector Magnificus, Prof. Andrea Bozzolo, SDB, in recognition of the excellent result obtained at the end of his doctoral Studies. Father Emmanuel is a Classicist, Philologist, Latinist, Patrologist, and an Educationist. Besides, he earned a Diploma in Church Management from Università della Santa Croce, Roma, in 2022. While in Rome, he had been in the United States several times during the summer for summer pastoral experiences in New York. His areas of interest include, but not limited to, ancient Greek and Latin literature, early Christian writings, ancient and medieval ecclesiastical history, trans-cultural continuity and discontinuity, translation and interpretation of meaning and cultural context, philology, literary criticism, classical and ecclesiastical Latin (Medieval Latin), Biblical Graecitas, Art of public speaking (Ars rhetorica), Homiletics (Ars praedicandi), Medieval and Humanistic writings. He has carried out multiple research works, and written articles to his credit. In October 2023, Archbishop Shelton Fabre appointed him associate pastor of Epiphany Catholic Church. He arrived at Epiphany on Monday, October 9, 2023. He is passionate about lively liturgy that engages parishioners.