Br. Elias Odinaka Iwu
Extended Secretariat of Laity (2018 – 2023)
Brother Elias, from the province of Nigeria, was born into a Catholic family with six children, five boys and one girl. As a fifth child, he likes to share and exchange new ideas with others.
His first contact with the Marist Brothers was in 1998 when he made his postulancy in Orlu, Nigeria. He made his first religious profession on 16th June 2001, after his Novitiate Programme in Ghana. After four years of scholasticate in Nairobi, Kenya in 2005, he was appointed secretary of the Laity and Identity Commission. After his perpetual vows in 2008, he was appointed formator at the Marist Formation Centre, Orlu, Imo State, Nigeria from 2008 to 2011. In 2011, he took up the post of Coordinator of Marist Laity in the Province of Nigeria, a position he still holds.
A service and an apostolate that he values highly because it has given him many blessings and the opportunity to share the charism of Marcellin Champagnat through imitation of the Good Mother Mary which has manifested itself in Humility, Simplicity, sharing with the less privileged, teaching catechism and moral instruction.
Currently, he works as Coordinator of the African Commission of Brothers and Laity, is Director of Marist Comprehensive College, Onunweke, Ezzagu, Ebonyi State, Nigeria, member of the Provincial Council of the Province, Coordinator of Marist Spiritual Patrimony, Secretary of the Marist Alumni Association of Nigeria, Member of the Extended Bureau of Laity and also Coordinator of the Marist Laity of the Province.
He studied Marist Spiritual Heritage in Rome in 2008, has a Masters degree in Geography and Meteorology, with a specialisation in Environmental Management. For him, the Marist lay vocation is a personal commitment with God and a way of salvation, therefore, it is a gift for the Church.