Antony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie is a Nigerian Cardinal Priest and Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos.
He was born on June 16, 1936, in Lagos, Nigeria, to an Uromi royal family from Edo State. His parents were Prince Michael Okojie, a descendant of King Ogbidi Okojie of Uromi, and Mrs. Lucy Adunni Okojie (formerly Afolabi). His mother was Yoruba, while his father was Esan.
Cardinal Okogie was ordained a Priest of the Roman Catholic Church on December 11th, 1966. His plans to study at Rome, where he has a licentiate in sacred theology, were derailed when he was summoned to Nigeria to serve as a curate at the Holy Cross Cathedral. He joined the Nigerian army by way of a draft and worked as a chaplain. He also worked as a teacher at King’s College.
In 1971, He has ordained the Titular Bishop of Mascuka and Auxiliary of Oyo. In 1973, He was appointed archbishop. While serving as Archbishop, Okogie presided over the Nigerian Bishops’ Conference from 1994 to 2000 and also served as president of the Christian Association of Nigeria.
He was named a Cardinal Priest of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel of Mostacciano), by Pope John Paul during the consistory on October 21, 2003. During his tenure as a cardinal, Okogie was one of the Cardinal Electors who took part in the papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. He was also the cardinal elector who took part in the 2013 papal conclave that chose Pope Francis.
On the first day of the 2013 conclave, Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie stood out of the conclave since he was the only cardinal who spent the majority of the proceedings in a wheelchair. He only gets up to walk to the pulpit and administer the oath to the cardinal electors. Cardinal Okogie was the first cardinal from the Latin church to enter the conclave without donning the mozzetta.
He once offered to die in place of a Muslim woman who had been sentenced to death by stoning by an Islamic court for adultery.
On May 25, 2012, he resigned as the Archbishop of the Metropolitan see of Lagos Archdiocese having reached the age limit of 75.
