Charity Pledges Continued Support in Forming Future Priests in Nigeria amid Rise in Vocations

Auchi, 16 July, 2025 / 3:37 PM

Catholic charity and Pontifical Foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, has expressed a commitment to continue supporting the formation of future Priests in Nigeria where the foundation has observed an exponential growth in vocations to the Priesthood.

In a Monday, July 14 report, ACN announced that it would continue supporting the 76 young members of the Sons of Mary, Mother of Mercy (SMMM) who are on their journey to Priesthood.

According to the Pontifical charity foundation, vocations to the Priesthood in Nigeria continue to grow amid a rise in the abductions and killings of Priests and member of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL).

“Nigeria is a dangerous country for Priests. In the last ten years, more than 150 have been kidnapped and more than a dozen murdered. However, the number of vocations has not decreased, but has even increased, and many young men aspire to become diocesan or religious priests,” says ACN.

It adds, “One congregation with a large number of vocations is the Sons of Mary, Mother of Mercy, founded in 1970 in southeastern Nigeria. Currently, 76 young men from this Congregation are on their way to the Priesthood.”

The charity foundation says that the young members of the Congregation “need our prayers and support to continue their journey toward the Priesthood.”

“We at Aid to the Church in Need have promised to continue supporting their formation for another year,” the foundation says.

Nigeria has been experiencing insecurity since 2009, when the Boko Haram insurgency began with the aim of turning the country into an Islamic State.

Since then, the group, one of the largest Islamist groups in Africa, has been orchestrating indiscriminate terrorist attacks on various targets, including religious.

In one of the latest attacks, three Seminarians were kidnapped on July 10 in an armed attack on Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary of the Catholic Diocese of Auchi. A security guard, who was reportedly with the three abducted Seminarians in the Sacristy was killed.

Amid all the attacks, vocations in the country have continued to grow, with some Seminarians testifying that the persecution only made their faith stronger.

At the Good Shepherd Major Seminary from where Seminarian Michael Nnadi was brutally murdered after he was kidnapped alongside three others in 2020, 32 Deacons were ordained to the Priesthood on June 26 in an event that was reportedly attended by hundreds of Priests.