Nigeria: Fourteen new priests ordained amid religious persecution

In Nigeria, fourteen new priests were ordained for the Diocese of Makurdi in Benue State by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco. During the ceremony, Cordileone highlighted the intense religious persecution facing the Nigerian clergy, noting that many suffer and die for their faith. He suggested that the testimony of African Catholics, who face physical martyrdom, serves as a necessary example for Western societies currently facing spiritual crises such as isolation and anxiety.

Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese also highlighted the risks faced by religious students in the region, recalling the martyrdom of Michael Ikechukwu Nnadi. In 2020, the 18-year-old seminarian was killed by kidnappers in Kaduna State after he reportedly urged his captors to repent and return to God despite being threatened with firearms. Kukah used Nnadi’s story to warn against the secularization affecting other parts of the world.