Pope's letter to Nigeria

The spiritual head of the Catholic Church worldwide, Pope Francis, has lambasted the Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram, for its onslaughts against Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.

Last week, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office reported that more than 4,000 people were killed in Boko Haram attacks, and that 900 people were kidnapped in Nigeria last year.

The Pope, in a letter titled, ‘Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Bishops of Nigeria,’ written

and posted on the church’s official website on Tuesday, said he was deeply concerned about the tragic happenings, especially in the North-East zone of Nigeria.

He said, “While we walk this Lenten journey towards the resurrection of the Lord united with the whole Church, I wish to extend to you, dear Archbishops and Bishops of Nigeria, a fraternal greeting, which I extend to the beloved Christian communities entrusted to your pastoral care. I would also like to share some thoughts with you on the current situation in your country. Your nation has had to confront considerable problems, among them new and violent forms of extremism and fundamentalism on ethnic, social and religious grounds.

“Many Nigerians have been killed, wounded or mutilated, kidnapped and deprived of everything: their loved ones, their land, their means of subsistence, their dignity and their rights. Many have not been able to return to their homes. Believers, both Christian and Muslim, have experienced a common tragic outcome, at the hands of people who claim to be religious, but who instead abuse religion, to make of it an ideology for their own distorted interests of exploitation and murder.”

In spite of the prevailing violent crises in the northern part of the country, the Pope urged catholic priests and missionaries in Nigeria not to give up in tendering to the flock under their care.

He also thanked those in the church who had risked their lives to provide both spiritual and material comfort to the victims of the insurgency.

He wrote, “Dear Brother Bishops, in perseverance and without becoming discouraged, go forward on the way of peace. Accompany the victims; come to the aid of the poor; teach the youth; become promoters of a more just and fraternal society. And so, I wish here to express my heartfelt thanks to you, because in the midst of so many trials and sufferings the Church in Nigeria does not cease to witness to hospitality, mercy and forgiveness.

“How can we fail to remember the priests, religious men and women, missionaries and catechists who, despite untold sacrifices, never abandoned their flock, but remained at their service as good and faithful heralds of the gospel? To them, most particularly, I would like to express my solidarity, and to say: do not grow tired of doing what is right.”

The Pope also prayed for peace to be restored to all parts of the country, urging Nigerians to make efforts “to favour reconciliation, to promote experiences of sharing, to extend bridges of dialogue and to serve the weakest and the excluded.”