Christians persecuted in
Nigeria amid deafening silence
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| Mourners at a funeral for Christians murdered by Islamic militants in Nigeria (AFP) |
A Catholic priest in Nigeria releases an appeal for
attention and action to the international community as Christians continue to
be persecuted and murdered in his country.
By Linda Bordoni
“Every day,” says Father Joseph Bature Fidelis of Maiduguri
Diocese, “Our brothers and sisters are slaughtered in the streets.”
In a dramatic appeal to the papal charity, “Aid to the
Church in Need”, Father Fidelis says the situation in northern Nigeria
continues to deteriorate for religious and for the faithful who are under
attack by fundamentalist Islamic militants.
His latest appeal follows the abduction of four
young seminarians in the city of Kaduna, in north western Nigeria.
It is the latest in a long line of attacks and murders of
Christian believers there. An estimated 1000 Nigerian Christians were murdered
in 2019 alone for their faith. Some 6000 of them have been killed since 2015.
In his video message Father Fidelis makes a heartfelt
appeal: “I ask the government of Italy, the country where I studied, and all
European governments to put pressure on our government to do something to
defend us.”
Although the government of Muhammadu Buhari says it has put
a number of security measures into place to protect Christians in the area, it
appears incapable of guaranteeing security and preventing continuous violence
and even anti-Christian massacres.
According to Father Fidelis, the support and intervention of
European governments is therefore necessary: “Otherwise we risk extermination.
Our people are suffering so much. Please help us not be silent in the face of
this immense extermination that is taking place in silence.”
“Aid to the Church in Need” has undertaken to spread the
news through the Italian media and is asking for prayers and for concrete
support for the Seminaries in the country.
Aid will be destined, in particular, to the Good Shepherd
Seminary in the city of Kaduna, which currently has 53 seminarians and, as
Father Fidelis says, is in an area “where one risks one’s life every day just
because one is Christian.”
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