A few days ago, I called Fr. Alain Mugasho, a fellow missionary. Though separated by miles, our conversation revealed a shared experience that bridges continents and deserts. Just as in Niger and across the Sahel and the Sahara, Christianity is thriving in Algeria. Although he was thousands of miles distant from my home in Maradi, Niger Republic, and 2,000 km…
The saying “different strokes for different folks” played out in Nigeria a few days ago. On July 15, 2025, the remains of former President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, were interred in the rustic town of Daura, Katsina State, after he passed away in a London hospital on July 13, following a prolonged illness. Three days earlier, on July 10, suspected bandits…
NAIROBI, KENYA – From June 10 to 12, 2025, the 4th Global Research Network Convening gathered at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), casting a revealing spotlight on the pivotal, yet often understated, role of African consecrated women in advancing sustainable development. Organized under the aegis of the Centre for Research in Religious Life and Apostolate (CERRA) Africa Symposium,…
I’m not sure he still remembers my name.I have wandered too far from the flock.How is it that you tell meThe One who once bore my sinIs out there somewhere, searching for me? That, my dear, I cannot believe. The prodigal son—he rememberedEven in his lowest moment,The long and lonely road back to his father’s house.But me? I don’t know…
You ask me why my smile is so bright.My dear brother, it all began last Thursday.When I fell on my knees, burdened with guilt,The yoke of my transgressions leaning on my shoulders.And then began my creed: Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. Gradually, as I laid bare my sins,Slowly I felt the shackles fall off my soul.And I, who…
This past week, at an Ecclesial Project gathering, someone asked me where Africans find hope amid all the troubles there. I reminded her: there is no such things as African hope or American hope. We all need hope today, just as our ancestors needed to live in hope amidst the challenges they faced in their own day. Each generation faces…
Something profound is stirring in the heart of Africa, a quiet but unmistakable spiritual awakening led by African women religious. In a continent scarred by inequality yet rich in faith, these consecrated women are becoming the beating heart of a renewed Catholic Church. This was powerfully affirmed just weeks ago at the 6th General Assembly and Symposium of Confederation of…
La cinquième assemblée générale de la Réunion des Conférences épiscopales d’Afrique de l’Ouest (RECOWA), s’est tenue à Dakar du 5 au 12 mai 2025 autour du thème « Pour une Église synodale et autonome au service de la justice et de la paix en Afrique de l’Ouest ». Le message final de cette rencontre a mis l’accent sur la nécessité…
How does one give it all for Christ? This is not merely a spiritual question; it is also an existential challenge. Today’s martyrs help us to answer this question in unusual places and multiple sites of faith, life, and witness. Fr. Allois Cheruiyot Bett, a faithful servant of God, whose life was brutally cut short on May 22, 2025, is…
President Buhari died the way he lived: shrouded in mystery, from a sickness he refused to disclose, leaving a nation to speculate. Even in death, he remains an enigma. Many Nigerians still believe he died years ago and that an impostor ruled in his place. While I reject that fantasy, it speaks volumes about our country: no one knows who…