The Bishop Katsina Diocese underscored the need for prayer during the 2025 Year of Hope, revealing that all Parishes in his Episcopal See have been instructed to organize special prayer sessions.
“These prayers serve two purposes. First, they express gratitude to God for His countless blessings. Second, they seek divine intervention to strengthen our hope. This hope is not just a wish; it is one of the theological virtues that sustains us. It assures us that tomorrow will be better and that, even in times of hardship, God remains present with us,” he said.
The pioneer Catholic Bishop of Katsina Diocese noted that these prayers are being held not only at the Parish level but also in Deaneries and at the level of the Diocesan levels to reinforce faith across.
Announcing the start of a Year of Prayer on 21 January 2024 in preparation for the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, the second in his Pontificate after the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2015, Pope Francis said that the yearlong initiative will be “dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in one’s personal life, in the life of the Church, and in the world.”
Months later, on the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ on 9 May 2024, the Holy Father solemnly proclaimed the upcoming Jubilee Year 2025 at a ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica, during which he delivered the Bull of Indiction of the planned Jubilee, “Spes non confundit” (Hope does not disappoint).
The Jubilee Year provides the people of God across the globe an opportunity to participate in various planned jubilee events at the Vatican and in their respective Episcopal Sees and Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL).
In the March 12 interview with ACI Africa, Bishop Musa said that as part of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, his Episcopal See is fostering reconciliation and peaceful resolution of conflict.
“Jubilee years are traditionally associated with reconciliation. We encourage individuals to reconcile with themselves, with God, and with one another. While not all conflicts can be resolved, many can be managed peacefully,” he said.
He went on to underscore the need for continuous peace-building efforts, saying, “Some people believe that as Christians, we have always worked for peace, preached peace, and promoted peace, yet we often find ourselves at the receiving end of violence. This reality does not deter us from our mission of peace.”
The 53-year-old Nigerian pioneer Bishop of Katsina Diocese said that economic hardship, rather than religious conversions, pose the biggest challenge in his Episcopal See.
