People gather around the ruins of the burned Bama Market in Maiduguri, Nigeria (CNS)
Posted on 05/12/2015 11:53:49 AM PDT by NYer
People gather around the ruins of the burned Bama Market in Maiduguri, Nigeria (CNS)
A new report has revealed the scale of the suffering of Nigerian Catholics at the hands of Boko Haram militants, with 5,000 Catholics killed in one diocese alone.
A further 100,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Maiduguri, in the northeast of the country, have been displaced by the six-year campaign of violence conducted by the Muslim militant group, according to the Situation Report on the Activities of Boko Haram in the Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri.
There are now about 7,000 widows in the diocese and nearly 10,000 orphaned children, said the report. Among the diocese’s displaced are 26 of 46 priests, 200 catechists and 20 religious sisters, the report found.
The diocese includes the entire states of Borno and Yobe and part of Adamawa state. More than 350 churches in the diocese have been the targets of terror attacks with “a good number of them destroyed more than once”, the report said.
Aid to the Church in Need said 22 of the Maiduguri Diocese’s 40 parish centres and chaplaincies have been deserted by Catholics. Many are occupied by Boko Haram militants, who control about three-quarters of the territory of the diocese, the report said. It added that 32 of the 40 church-run primary schools have been deserted, and four of the diocese’s five convents are closed.
The information was sent to the UK branch of Aid to the Church in Need, and a summary of its findings was issued in a May 11 statement by the charity, which was set up to help persecuted Christians.
Fr Gideon Obasogie, the diocesan director of social communications, told the charity: “People are very scared, and those who are able to return home find there is nothing left … A life lived with much fear is terrible.”
But he added that the persecution had “purified” the faith of the suffering Catholics of the diocese.
“The good Lord has always been on our side,” he said. “He has seen us through thick and thin. Our faith has been purified through persecution.”
Ping!
Horrible.
And Boko Haram does not care if the Christians they kill are Catholic or Protestant. They do not discriminate among the ‘branding’ of the Christians in Nigeria, for them, any dead Christian is a ‘good Christian.’
May all of the martyrs for our Lord be resting with him now.
We pray for the poor, we pray for world peace- but not for our fellow Christian's who are, at this moment , suffering persecution for their faith? It's not right.
We do in our parish!
Excellent point! Here is an opportunity to forward this article to your pastor and suggest that these persecuted communities be remembered in the Sunday intercessions. Oftentimes, pastors are so focused on their community's problems that they neglect to include those of the universal church. Let us know how it goes.
Our Parish does ... our Priest has even given a few homilies pointing out the evils of Islam.
Report reveals scale of Boko Haram violence inflicted on Nigerian Catholics
Military evacuating girls, women rescued from Boko Haram
Echos of Lepanto Nigerian bishop says rosary will bring down Boko Harm
After vision of Christ, Nigerian bishop says rosary will bring down Boko Haram (Catholic Caucus)
Nigerian Bishop Says Christ Showed Him How to Beat Islamic Terror Group
Send an email to your pastor asking for such a prayer to be inserted into the Prayers of the Faithful.
Send your pastor an email immediately and request that he include persecuted Christians in the Sunday prayers. Also pray a rosary for an end to the persecution, be proactive.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.