Jos, 22 January, 2025 / 9:20 pm (ACI Africa).
The Superior General of the Missionary Society of St. Paul (MSP) has addressed the challenges facing the Nigerian Catholic Church, including the persecution of Christians, and emphasized the resilience of the gospel message.
In an interview with ACI Africa on the sidelines of the St. Paul lecture on “Vatican II Council 60 Years After and the Church in Nigeria”, Fr. Callistus Isara highlighted the growth of the Church while cautioning that “there is a need for this faith to be deepened more, so that the spirituality matches the life of the people.”
Describing persecution as painful in a country where Christians are targeted by Islamist groups, Fr. Isara noted that the challenges the Church faces in the country are “a seed that has been sown. God will water it, and the Church will expand even more in these persecution areas.”
“You can bomb churches and priests, but you cannot destroy the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Fr. Isara told ACI Africa on Monday, January 19.
He added, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Christian faith. Whenever people persecute the Church thinking they are going to eliminate it is when the Church grows even more.”