Nigerian prelate laments lack of missionary commitment
January 19, 2017
A Nigerian archbishop said in a recent homily that a lack of a sense of missionary urgency among priests and religious is the greatest challenge facing the Church in Africa’s most populous nation.
Archbishop Mathew Man’Oso Ndagoso of Kaduna said that “many in our generation seem to have been infected with the deadly virus of complacency, lethargy, and nonchalance.”
“We like to bask in the euphoria of our being the first and well established Roman Catholic Church founded on Peter the Rock, with no sense of urgency to proclaim the Gospel,” he continued. “Before our very own eyes we see wolves in sheep’s clothing poaching and devouring our sheep, without any serious concern except that of assuring and reassuring ourselves that when some leave, others will come in on their own because we are, one, holy, catholic and apostolic.”
The nation of 186.1 million is 50% Muslim and 40% Christian, with 10% retaining indigenous beliefs.
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Posted by: bernie4871 -
Jan. 20, 2017 2:20 PM ET USA
hartwood01 The US (and much of the Church) lost its Mission spirit to the Spirit of the Age - "Dogoodism" and fascination with the modern world. True believers from simpler cultures are not intimidated by the same things that reduced us to a second rate member of God's Peoples. Having a surfeit of priests in Nigeria is not an "a priori" requirement for spreading the Word elsewhere. It is a sign of the vitality of those cultures. I love Nigerian priests.
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Posted by: hartwood01 -
Jan. 19, 2017 7:13 PM ET USA
The US has many Nigerian priests. We are told that the US is now the country that needs priests and they are coming for our former missionary lands. Which way is it?
