Nigeria – How a bishop became a bridge between Christians and Muslims

When he converted to Christianity, at age 12, Gerald Musa’s father could scarcely have imagined that his son would become the first bishop of his influential Hausa ethnic group. (Cover photo : Bishop Gerald Mamman Musa of Katsina welcoming guests at the airport. On the right, Fr. Ikokwu Onwuchekwa.) Though mostly used nowadays to refer …

Philippines – Deadly attack at Marawi university sparks commotion and fear among local Catholic minority

A bomb detonated on Sunday, December 3, during a Catholic Mass at Mindanao State University, in the city of Marawi, in southern Philippines. Local sources say that the explosion took the lives of at least four faithful, leaving over 40 injured. The attack was claimed by a group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS). A …

Mali – German priest freed after over a year in captivity

Fr Ha-Jo was aware of the risks to his safety by continuing to work in Mali, but persisted, driven by a desire to improve the situation for the country overall, and to remain with his small Christian community. A German priest who was kidnapped in Mali over a year ago has finally been freed. Hans-Joachim …

Philippines – Church joyous and dynamic despite challenges

The Philippines is an archipelago in Southeast Asia consisting of 7,641 islands, 2,000 of which are inhabited. The two largest islands, Luzon and Mindanao, account for two thirds of the total surface area and population. The first includes the capital, Manila, and the second is home to most of the Muslim population and has been …

Mozambique: Church focused on promoting interreligious dialogue in terrorist-plagued north

The Catholic Church has been playing a discrete but important role around dialogue that could effectively end the plague of terrorist violence in northern Mozambique. Father Eduardo Roca, a project partner of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), founded the Interreligious Centre for Peace, in the Diocese of Pemba, in 2017—the same year terrorist …