Catholic Archbishop Urges Nigerians to Devise “meaningful” Ways to Survive Economic Hardships

“We must also make a move, we must take a step to approach Jesus, through prayer and hard work. God never intended prayer to be a substitute for hard work,” he said.

The Archbishop underlined the need for the people of God to work in solidarity, saying that all Christians are interconnected as one body of Christ.

This interconnectedness, he said, “calls us to reach out to those who are suffering and to share generously from our blessings, whether they be material resources, time, talents, or compassion.”

“We must all have a role to play in God’s plan towards others. While Christ seeks our welfare every day, we too must continually seek the welfare of others,” said the Local Ordinary of Abuja.

Archbishop Kaigama said that many Nigerians have ran out of options to survive, just as the woman who touched Jesus’ cloak and got healed after 12 years of suffering.

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“We too might have spent all that we have on treatment, food, security, and still living lives of misery,” he said.

The Catholic Church leader, who started his Episcopal Ministry in April 1995 as Bishop of Nigeria’s Jalingo Diocese cautioned Nigerians against blaming God for the ills in the country.

He said that allowing doctors and nurses to go on strike because of poor governance and poor working conditions resulting in deaths of people can’t be God’s will.

Archbishop Kaigama pointed out that poorly built roads lead to accidents and the diversion of money meant to fight crime through corruption leads to increased insecurity.

“God gave us the free will to choose evil or good but we often choose evil, corruption, and injustice and turn around to blame God!” he said.

In his June 30 homily, the Nigerian Archbishop described the 200 newly confirmed Catholics as “soldiers of Christ” who now qualify “not to fight with murderous weapons but with love and prayer.”

“We are anointing them with the Holy Chrism for the Holy Spirit to strengthen them so that nothing will separate them from the love of Christ. Not tribulation, or anguish or famine or nakedness or peril, or persecution or the sword,” he said.

“While not all may experience the ‘red martyrdom’ by torture or violent death, like St. Peter and St. Paul…we are called to be aware that as good Christians we may experience ‘white martyrdom’,” the Archbishop said.

He noted that unlike red martyrdom which involves the shedding of blood, white martyrdom entails persecution, suppression of fundamental rights, discrimination, and being terrorized and brutalized for simply being Christians as experienced in Africa’s most populous nation.

He said, “We are indeed called to white martyrdom; by doing good always even if we have to suffer; sacrificing for the comfort of others; suffering because our rights are denied, our jobs are given to others just because our names sound Christian, and denied land for worship because of who we are.”

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The Nigerian Archbishop underlined the importance of the cross in the life of a Christian, saying, “Be strong, defend the cross, and carry the cross, which is why we begin our prayers with the sign of the cross. In the cross lies our salvation,” he told those he was about to confer the sacrament of confirmation.

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.