Abuja, 18 June, 2023 / 8:55 pm (ACI Africa).
The Archbishop of Nigeria’s Abuja Archdiocese has decried the increasing number of "needless deaths", evil, and hatred in the West African nation.
In his Sunday, June 11 homily at St. Augustine’s Parish of his Metropolitan See, Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama made reference to the June 7 murder of the Catholic Priest of Benin City Archdiocese who was to celebrate his first Priestly anniversary on August 13.
“We live in a time of multiple needless deaths, increasing evil and hatred. Again, the recent brutal murder of a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Charles Onomhaele Igechi, of the Archdiocese of Benin City, is very disheartening,” Archbishop Kaigama said in his homily on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.
He added, “The authorities must ensure that Nigerians including Catholic Priests are not kidnapped or killed just because they are agents of peace, unity, equity, dignity of life.”
Amid atrocities in Africa’s most populous nation, the Nigerian Catholic Archbishop called for respect for human life, saying, “Christians must not discriminate and look down on others or promote our interest at the expense of others, but to create a community of love.”