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Recite Rosary in Lent to “collapse bloodletting cloud” in Nigeria: Bishops of Onitsha

Some Bishops of the Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province. Credit: Courtesy Photo

Catholic Bishops in Nigeria’s Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province are calling on the people of God under their pastoral care to pray the Holy Rosary “daily and faithfully” throughout the Lenten Season imploring for peace in the Southeastern part of the country. 

In a Monday, February 28 statement, the Local Ordinaries of Onitsha Archdiocese and the Dioceses of Ekwulobia, Enugu, Awka, Abakaliki, Awgu, Nnewi and Nsukka say Southeastern Nigeria which is covered by their Ecclesiastical See has become a theater of ungodly and wanton destruction of life and properties.”

“We appeal to all as individuals, Families, Associations, Parishes to say their Rosaries daily and faithfully within this period of lent in order that this cloud of bloodletting hanging over our region will collapse like the walls of Jericho,” the Catholic Bishops say.

They express their fear for “forces of darkness and death” that seem to have cast their shadows over the Southeastern part of the country and which may lead to the loss faith in God and hope in man.  

“Those who put their trust in the Lord can never be disappointed,” the Catholic Bishops of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province say their collective statement, and call upon the people of God under their pastoral care to commit themselves to prayer “for peace and security” in the West African country throughout the Lenten Season.

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“The prayers for peace and security are now declared in all the Dioceses of our Province to begin on Ash Wednesday, 2nd March, 2022. The prayers will last for 40 days from Ash Wednesday, 2nd March, to Palm Sunday, 10th April, 2022,” the Catholic Bishops announce in their collective statement signed by Archbishop Valerian Maduka Okeke of Onitsha Archdiocese. 

They also urge Christians to pray “that justice and equity will reign in Nigeria” and that God may convert murderers and make them realize the sacredness of human life. 

The Catholic Bishops further pray that God gives the Federal Government of Nigeria and the country’s politicians “the courage and the honesty to discuss the challenges facing the South-eastern region which are part of the causes of youth restiveness and violence in our zone.”

In their collective statement, the Catholic Church leaders urge those under their pastoral care to fast on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all Fridays throughout Lent. 

In addition to the general fasting days, the Catholic Bishops call upon members of the Clergy and women and men Religious to fast on all Tuesdays throughout Lent and the Holy Week. 

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"Since we are the bridges between God and His people, we are called to lead our people by example of faith and prayer," the Catholic Bishops of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province say, addressing themselves to members of the Clergy and women and men Religious serving in the Nigerian Province. 

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.