Father Tochi Iwuji brings different perspective, same passion to diocesan office
“Will I be trusted enough by the community?”
Father Tochi Iwuji, recently appointed director of the diocesan Office for Black Catholics, has big goals for his new position, yet, he knows he faces challenges, even a little opposition from those he hopes to help. Despite that, he has an optimistic heart – one filled with a desire to help Black Catholics heal from their painful history and make sure they are part of the Church’s future.
“One of the things I bring to the office is a holistic understanding of culture, and an understanding of my call as a priest as an instrument of hope and healing,” he said. “I hope to accompany the people as they become aware of the gift they are to the Church … and reassure them that they have a place in the Church.”
Father Tochi was born and raised in Nigeria, the youngest of seven children in a Catholic home. He studied in seminary schools as a teenager, which helped to sow the seeds of his vocation. After high school, he joined the Claretian Missionaries and worked as a missionary for several years.
Father Tochi came to the United States to study at Liberty University in 2014. While he was studying pastoral counseling, he also became involved with couples’ ministry at Liberty, and with parish activities at St. Thomas More, Lynchburg. He said he felt called to become a priest but wasn’t sure how or when. While at Liberty, he said he finally felt ready to answer his call.
Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Richmond in 2019, Father Tochi was named by Bishop Barry C. Knestout to succeed Msgr. Walter C. Barrett Jr. as the director of the Office for Black Catholics on Dec. 31, 2022. He will continue to serve as pastor of the Central Virginia Catholic Cluster, which includes Immaculate Heart of Mary, Blackstone; Sacred Heart, Meherrin; and St. Theresa, Farmville.
Acknowledging divide between Black Catholics
Father Tochi acknowledges that some people consider him an outsider and doubt his effectiveness in his new role because he is from Nigeria.
“I don’t have to wait for them (Black Catholics) to tell me that,” he says. “I know that. One of my big goals is to walk toward integrating African Americans and African immigrants.”
Father Tochi says there is a great divide between Black Catholics who were born in America and those who were born in Africa. He hopes to “find a way to bring the two communities together, by finding what unites us.”
Healing through empathy, perspective
“My goal is to walk toward healing by not dismissing an experience that I don’t understand,” said Father Tochi. “Being empathetic and acknowledging the experience with a big question: Where do we go from here? What is it we as a people are looking for?”
Father Tochi believes he can help Black Catholics in the healing process by being empathetic and by simply listening.
He wonders “whether the community will trust me to accompany them – these are years of experience so it is not easy to trust when your trust has been abused.”
Father Tochi is relying on his perspective as an African priest who has studied culture and consciousness. He said he learned of a unique connection he has to African Americans during a visit to the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton.
One of the exhibits is a recreation of a West African farm that features his tribe in Nigeria. He was shocked to learn that more than 40% of slaves who were brought to Virginia were from his own tribe.
“So that makes me feel like I am part of this story, but from a different perspective, a different experience,” said Father Tochi. “So that gives me some passion to do something.”
‘Start thinking in a multicultural mindset’
Father Tochi has a vision, and it goes beyond Black Catholics. He said his role is to raise awareness for all Catholics – to think beyond black and white.
“So if we’re talking about bicultural, we’re limiting ourselves,” he said. “Priests, parish staff, and the diocese as a whole need to start thinking in a multicultural mindset.”
“It is no longer a bilingual world … the experience you bring from your heritage is different from what another person would bring. The experience I bring, even as an African, is different from the experience of someone from east Africa,” he explained.
Father Iwuji hopes to encourage his fellow priests and those in ministries to move out of their comfort zone.
“Sometimes we have to have those tough conversations. Healing and justice and forgiveness, they work together,” he said.
Editor’s note: The Office for Black Catholics encourages participation in upcoming events, including the Diocesan Day of Reflection on Saturday, March 18, National Black Catholic Congress, African National Eucharistic Congress, and Spiritual Retreat. Find information about upcoming Office for Black Catholic events here.