Skip to main content

Nigerians respond to the call of the Bishops in numbers

Nigerians respond to the call of the Bishops in numbers

By Sam Eyoboka with Agency reports

MORE people than usual attended Ash Wednesday Mass in Nigeria following an appeal by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, to use the day as one of national mourning, prayer and reflection for Nigerians – especially Christians, kidnapped or killed by terrorists or criminals in the country.

Paul Samasumo – Vatican City

The record attendance was confirmed by Nigeria’s Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of Oyo Diocese who is also Africa’s Bishop-President for Social Communications under SECAM, the continental body of Bishops.

Bishop Badejo told Vatican News that according to reports he had received, from across the country, many of the faithful have turned up in numbers for Ash Wednesday Masses. This was in response to a call by Nigerian Bishops in a Pastoral letter addressed to the faithful. Nigerian Bishops also recommended that the faithful turn up for Ash Wednesday Mass dressed in black –an appropriate Nigerian expression for mourning. The Pastoral letter was to be read in all Catholic Churches of Nigeria during Ash Wednesday Masses.

With no prosecutions, Government cannot claim to be protecting Christians.

“I believe that the kind of language and gestures we speak now, (as a Church in Nigeria) must be direct to show that Nigeria simply cannot continue this way,” Bishop Badejo said in a telephone interview.

He added, “The Bishops have declared their moral responsibility to stand up for the people, and we have directly told the Government it can no longer pretend to be protecting Christians when in fact not one single person has been prosecuted of all those who have been slaughtering people, simply because of their declaration as Christians. If the Government cannot protect the freedom of religion and the security of life and property, we have to ask – what kind of Government is this?”

Bishop Badejo says twice the CBCN has asked Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, to resign for being ineffectual.

Nigeria’s young people were in the majority at Ash Wednesday Masses. Asked if Nigeria’s young people would draw strength from Pope Francis’ Lenten Message of 2020, not to see Jesus’ passion as a past event but one that gives hope, Bishop Badejo responded in the affirmative. He said young people in Nigeria still have faith that even if the State fails them, the Church will always be there for them.

Pope Francis observes usual Ash Wednesday customs in time of virus

“What happened that morning is that many young people still believe in Nigeria and in the Church. The evidence of this is that young people were in the majority among those who attended (Ash Wednesday) Mass across Nigeria,” Bishop Badejo said.

Vanguard Nigeria News

The post Nigerians respond to the call of the Bishops in numbers appeared first on Vanguard News.


by David O Royal via Vanguard News https://ift.tt/2whhvFQ Best Known Member of the Cabinet Wikipedia
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UPDATED: Nigeria’s coronavirus cases reach 1,728, fatalities 51

  By David Royal The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 196 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,728. NCDC also announced that seven more fatalities were recorded, bringing the total number of deaths to 51. The NCDC, in a tweet at about 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday, said the 196 new cases reported were; 87-Lagos, 24-Kano, 18-Gombe, 17-Kaduna, 16-FCT, 10-Katsina, 8-Sokoto, 7-Edo, 6-Borno, 1-Yobe, 1-Ebonyi, 1-Adamawa. The virus has spread to 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Yobe, according to NCDC report, is the most recent state to record COVID-19 case in the country. According to the agency, Nigeria now has 1,370 active cases recorded as of 11:55 p.m. on April 29, while 307 infected persons have been treated and discharged, with 51 deaths recorded. READ ALSO: US says remdesivir shows ‘clear-cut’ effect in treating coronavirus “On the 29th of April 2020, 196 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Covid 19: Bowen University tasks government on post coronavirus fallout

By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo   THE Vice Chancellor of Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, has urged governments at different levels to prepare for the aftermath of coronavirus as he opined that life would not remain the same afterward. While alerting the government of the effect of the pandemic on the economy, he charged the people to brace up for the challenges post COVID-19 will pose for the society, especially in the area of human relation. READ ALSO: BRAIN DRAIN: Beyond minimum wage, give doctors welfare package — LAGOS NMA Ogunwole who disclosed to this while donating relief materials to the people of Iwo and Oluponna to cushion the effect of lockdown on the vulnerable residents of the towns, said the world would not remain the same as global economy would rely more on virtual interaction, hence, the masses must be prepared for the new reality. While noting that the school’s gesture was to support government’s efforts in alleviating the sufferings of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Protesters, police clash in Rome as Italy weighs new lockdowns

New skirmishes between police and protestors broke out in Rome on Saturday following clashes in Florence a night earlier that Italy’s interior minister blamed on “violent fringe elements”. Protesters have taken to the streets in the past week in cities across Italy, including Rome, Naples and Turin, to criticise a new series of restrictions to aimed at stopping an alarming rise in coronavirus cases, even as the government considers more stringent measures to be announced as early as Monday. Early Saturday evening in Rome, a sit-in at the famed Campo dei Fiori ended in a clash with police as some in a crowd of a few hundred protesters began throwing bottles and firecrackers, before being dispersed by police with riot gear and truncheons. A second protest in Rome also ended in clashes with authorities. The protests in Italy’s capital came a day after an unauthorised nighttime demonstration in the Renaissance city of Florence turned violent, when police sought to prohibit about 200 p...
Post a Comment
Read more