Nigeria: Diocese Doubles Its Number of Priests in Ten Years

With the ordination of 23 priests on August 10, 2024, the Bishop of Nsukka, Bishop Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, is now supported by 417 priests in his diocese. There are many reasons for this increase.

The first thing to note is the faith of the Nigerian Catholic people, who have the highest rate of practicing Catholics in the world—far ahead of the next country on the list: 94% of Nigerian Catholics attend Sunday Mass. The second country, Kenya, records a rate of 73%; and the third, Lebanon, 69%. In Europe, only Poland remains close to 50%.

Large families: Nigerians have many children (more than five per woman). Along with Catholic school, the family is where vocations are cultivated. In Europe, the birth rate is low: France is in the lead with 1.8 children per woman, below the replacement rate. How can there be vocations when the next generation is not even assured?

The fierce faith of African Catholicism must be recalled: after the publication of the Declaration Fiducia supplicans, released on December 18, 2023, all of Sub-Saharan Africa refused this Roman document in the name of the Faith of the Church. The Nigerian episcopate was one of the first to react, as early as December 20, affirming “that there is no possibility for the Church to bless homosexual unions and activities.”

An important element is the persecution suffered by the Catholics of Nigeria, who each year pay for their Faith in blood by the hundreds, even thousands. Enugu State has not been spared this cost. And the surrounding States: Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, have countless martyrs.

In an article from June 2023, ACI Afrique reported that “no less than 2,150 defenseless Christians were massacred by non-state actors/Islamic jihadists supported by the Nigerian government during the last 160 days—that is, from January 1 to June 12, 2023,” the Intersociety report indicates.

A Spirituality of Martyrdom

In the face of this persecution, “the country’s seminary instructors have shared with ACI Afrique a spirituality that is emerging in Nigerian seminaries that many may find difficult to grasp: the spirituality of martyrdom,” an article from January 24 explains.

“The instructors explain that in Nigeria, those who commit themselves to priestly formation are continually led to understand that their vocation now entails being prepared to defend the Faith to the death. More than ever, seminarians are reminded that they must be prepared to face persecution, including the possibility of being kidnapped and even killed.”

Contrary to what is believable to softened and debased ideas of evangelization, this danger does not make the young, generous Catholic youth retreat, but drives them with even greater momentum: this is at least the irrefutable observation that can be made in Nigeria. In contrast to the decadent “Catholic” thought of old Europe, which flees the Cross of Christ and thinks it can compensate for the lack of vocations by marrying priests, or even by “ordaining” women.

Finally, it must be added that the Bishop who governs the Diocese of Nsukka is well aware of the grandeur of the priesthood: he reminded the deacons he ordained priests that they would henceforth be “profoundly transformed and molded to Christ,” and that the grace they were going to receive through ordination makes them capable of fulfilling their sacred duties.