Two Catholic priests kidnapped in Nigeria – Catholic World Report

Rome Newsroom, July 16, 2022 / 5:45 a.m. (CNA).

The Nigerian Diocese of Kafanchan has called for prayers after the kidnapping of two Catholic priests on Friday evening.

Father John Mark Cheitnum and Father Denatus Cleopas were abducted at around 5:45 p.m. on July 15 from the Rectory of Christ the King Catholic Church in Lere Town, Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria.

“May Jesus, crucified on the Cross, hear our prayers and hasten the unconditional release of his priests and all other kidnapped people,” Father Emmanuel Uchechukwu Okolo wrote in a statement shared with CNA.

Okolo, who is Chancellor of Kafanchan Diocese, said the diocese asks people to pray for the quick and safe release of the kidnapped priests.

“We will use all legitimate means to ensure their speedy and safe release,” he said.

At least seven Catholic priests were kidnapped in Nigeria in July, according to data compiled by Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic non-profit organization.

The latest abduction brings the total to 20 Nigerian priests kidnapped since the beginning of 2022. Three of the priests have been killed.

Security expert David Otto, director of the Geneva Center for Africa Security and Strategic Studies, based in Geneva, Switzerland, told CNA that the consensus of security experts in his group is that the Catholic Church is being targeted because it paid the high ransoms demanded by the bandits, which can reach $200,000 or more.

Bishop Jude Arogundade of Ondo in southwestern Nigeria, where unapprehended gunmen on June 4 killed at least 40 people attending a Pentecost mass in Owo, believes that the Catholic Church in Nigeria is both a threat and a strategic target for radicalized Muslim Fulani herders and Islamic terror groups using violence to destabilize Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Kaduna state, in particular, has been described as “the epicenter of kidnappings and violence by non-state actors” in Nigeria by the British human rights foundation Christian Solidarity Worldwide. A 2022 report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom cites six attacks against churches in Kaduna State in 2021.

The Catholic priests of the Archdiocese of Kaduna organized event violence against Christians in Nigeria at the funeral of a priest murdered in late June.

The Nigerian Association of Diocesan Catholic Priests has called on priests to observe a week of prayer, fasting, Eucharistic adoration and recitation of the Rosary to help them in their ministry despite the dangerous security situation.

“Our duty is to lay before the altar of God the gratitude, cares, concerns and requests of the faithful and ours. We are defenders of life and peace,” the statement from the association of priests reads.

“We have been called and sent to preach the good news to the poor, to set the captives free, to set the oppressed free, to heal the broken hearted, to heal the wounds, etc. We have answered that call and we will continue.