Abuja, 24 January, 2023 / 11:20 am (ACI Africa).
The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja in Nigeria has decried the increasing division in the country, noting that Catholic Priests are being killed “in the most barbaric manner” owing to what he describes as “religious fanaticism and ethnic bigotry” in the West African nation.
Referring to the Second Reading of Sunday, January 22 from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama said, “Paul appealed for harmony because where Christ is present, there should be a spirit of unity, solidarity, and collaboration instead of divisions and rivalries. The division Paul referred to was perhaps less destructive than what we have in our country.”
“Our crisis is incubated in religious fanaticism and ethnic bigotry, hatching grievous social disorder, whereby Priests are killed in the most barbaric manner and citizens attacked, kidnapped or killed regularly,” the Nigerian Catholic Archbishop said in his January 22 homily.
He lamented that perpetrators of what he described as “devilish acts” in Nigeria are never identified and dealt with as a deterrent to others.
Archbishop Kaigama found it regrettable that Nigeria is increasingly polarized along various lines, and underscored the urgency of the message of repentance in the West African country.
