The 19th Annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast took a different turn Thursday morning as the early speakers focused on what is a growing problem for Roman Catholics in Nigeria: genocide.
For several years, as the number of converts to Catholicism reached the point that one quarter of Christian Nigerians are Catholic (12.8% of the population), the persecution has also grown exponentially.
Extremist groups whose common denominator is a hatred of all things Catholic have made Nigeria the leading source of Christian martyrs. Among the groups are the remnants of the notorious Boko Haram (whose name translated literally means "against all things Western") whose kidnapping of 276 girls in a Christian school drew worldwide attention.
Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Benue State of Nigeria hushed the standing room only audience at the Marquis Marriott Hotel in Washington as he recalled how "200 Christians in 20 villages were massacred recently."
"And in 2021-22, 200 [Catholic] sisters [nuns] were brutally attacked," he added. "But in spite of it all, the Catholic Church in Nigeria is growing and church attendance is growing — either in spite of its enemies or because of them."
Bishop Anagbe's words were strongly seconded by the Rev. Deji Dada Augustine, a Nigerian priest in the Archdiocese of New York.
"Please pray for Catholics in Nigeria," he told the prayer breakfast. "Their lives depend on it."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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