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Nigeria
“2019 one of the bloodiest for Christians in history”: Head of Global Catholic Charity
The President of the international Catholic pastoral charitable organization, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Thomas Heine-Beldern, has described the just ended year, 2019, as a year with a significantly high record of attacks targeting Christians across the globe, including Africa where Christians have been murdered in West Africa.
Catholic Priest of Nigeria’s Issele-Uku Diocese, Freed by Abductors
A week after two Nigerian Catholic priests from Awka Diocese were released unharmed by abductors, another priest from Nigeria’s Issele-Uku Diocese in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, Fr. Samuel Agwameseh has also been set free after three days with abductors, ACI Africa has been told.
Inequality, Disparities Behind Ethnic Violence in Kaduna State: Nigerian Archbishop Says
A Nigerian Archbishop who recently led a delegation of Local Ordinaries of the Ecclesiastical Province of Kaduna to the violence-prone Kaduna Local Government area within Kaduna state in the north western part of his country identified inequalities and disparities as factors behind the ethnic violence between Muslim and Christian population in the locality.
After Days with Abductors, Two Nigerian Priests Released Unharmed
Two Catholic priests from Nigeria’s Awka Diocese, Fr. Felix Efobi and Fr. Joseph Nweke, who were kidnapped December 6 while on their way to a wedding have been released unharmed.
Pope Transfers Bishop in South Sudan, Appoints New Bishops in Congo-Brazzaville, Nigeria
On Thursday, December 12, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of two African Prelates and made three Episcopal appointments for the Church in Africa that included the transfer of the Local Ordinary of South Sudan’s Torit diocese, Bishop Stephen Ameyu to Juba Archdiocese and the naming of Fr. Daniel Nzika and Fr. Julius Yakubu Kundi as new Bishops in the Congo and Nigeria respectively.
Pan-African Congress on Theology Proposes New Ways of Doing Theology in Africa
Participants in the four-day Pan-African Congress on Theology that sought to reflect on the faith of the people of God in Africa, evaluate the variety of pastoral and theological approaches and develop, through a joint forum, best practices for evangelization have proposed new ways of doing theology on the African continent, a region of the world continues to record the highest growth rate of Catholicism globally.
Re-arresting of Nigerian Journalist “a danger to democracy,” Archbishop Decries
The re-arresting of Nigerian journalist, human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore within court premises by the Department of State Security (DSS) hours after he had been freed on bail has angered a section of Nigerians including a Catholic Bishop in the West African Country who has condemned the incident terming it “a grave danger for democracy” in Africa’s most populous nation.
Newly Installed Nigeria’s Abuja Archbishop Pledges to Engage Government on National Issues
The newly installed Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Abuja in Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama has, during his installation ceremony, promised to engage the government in matters that contribute to the common good of Africa’s most populous country, weeks after the country’s President said he would support the ministry of the Church leader in his country’s capital, Abuja.
Planned Pan-African Congress on Theology to “develop best practices for pastoral ministry”
Ten years after the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops on the theme “The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace” during which Church leaders on the continent deliberated on, among other themes, transforming “theology into pastoral care,” a four-day Pan-African Catholic Congress on Theology, Society and Pastoral Life is set to take place in Enugu, Nigeria, under the theme, “What must we do to perform the works of God.”
Hate Speech Bill “recommending death by hanging an attack on Nigerians”: Bishop
A Nigerian Bishop has termed as “an attack on Nigerians” the proposed bill in his country’s National Assembly that seeks to apply capital punishment for those found guilty of hate speech.
Nigeria’s Social Media Bill “a totalitarian attempt, rotten yoghurt,” Bishop Says
A Nigerian Catholic Bishop has joined his compatriots who are campaigning against a proposed bill seeking to regulate citizen engagement on social media terming the attempt a “short walk to totalitarianism” in Africa’s most populous country.
Catholic Biblical Scholars in Nigeria Urge Leaders “to make integrity their rule of life”
At a time when many African countries are grappling with the menace of corruption and some Church leaders raising their voices against the vice in their respective countries, Catholic scholars in Scripture from Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria reflected about the challenge of corruption in society at a recent meeting.
Another Catholic Priest in Nigeria’s Enugu Diocese Freed after Abduction
Nearly two weeks after Fr. Arinze Madu, the Vice-Rector at Queen of Apostles Spiritual Year Seminary was abducted outside the seminary gate and released two days later, Nigeria’s diocese of Enugu has yet again had a priest, Fr. Theophilus Ndulue abducted and released a day later.
Nigeria’s President Promises to Support Ministry of New Archbishop of Abuja
Following Pope Francis’ acceptance of the resignation of John Cardinal Onaiyekan from the pastoral care of the Archdiocese of Abuja, and the confirmation of Archbishop Ignatius Ayua Kaigama as his successor, President Muhamadu Buhari has extended a congratulatory message to the new Archbishop, assuring him of his support.
“I started preparing myself towards eternity,” Nigerian Priest Recounts Abduction Ordeal
Fr. Arinze Madu, the Nigerian Catholic Priest who had been abducted at the gate of Queen of Apostles Spiritual Year Seminary in Nigeria’s Enugu diocese and later released unharmed has recounted his two-day ordeal in the hands of his abductors and told ACI Africa that his safe release was God’s doing and that he had started preparing himself for eternal life.
Kidnapped Nigerian Catholic Priest Released Unharmed
Two days after the abduction of Fr. Arinze Madu, a Catholic priest of Enugu diocese, Nigeria, his abductors have released him and “he is back in one piece,” ACI Africa has been told about the Wednesday, October 30 freeing of the Vice-Rector of a Nigeria-based seminary
Nigerian Catholic Priest Kidnapped Outside Seminary Gate, Whereabouts Unknown
A couple of days since unknown gunmen “whisked away” Nigerian Fr. Arinze Madu, a diocesan Catholic priest serving at Nigeria’s Queen of Apostles Spiritual Year Seminary, Enugu diocese, there are concerns about the priest’s whereabouts as kidnappings targeting Church leaders seem to multiply in Africa’s most populous country, a source in Enugu diocese has told ACI Africa.
Sainthood Cause for Potential Second Nigerian Saint Underway, Church Leader Hints
Some two decades after Pope St. John Paul II beatified the first Nigerian, Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi making him the first West African to achieve that feat, a second canonization cause is underway in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country where 25 percent of the population is estimated to be Catholic.
Bishops in Benin Call on Nigeria to Reconsider Opening Borders
Three months after a majority of African countries ratified an agreement allowing the creation of a regional free-trade zone, which was seen as a major boost to intra-regional trade, Bishops in the West African country of Benin have raised concerns over the continued move by Africa’s largest economy to close borders shared by the two countries, thereby limiting trade and free movement of goods.
Catholic Journalists in Nigeria Urged to Practice Constructive Journalism, Tell Good News
Catholic journalists in Nigeria have been encouraged to practice a form of constructive journalism that communicates good news to the world as a means of promoting “positive self-esteem” in their country, which has been compromised by a tendency toward negative reporting.
