AFRICA/NIGERIA - "The Nigerian Bishops have played a role of which the universal Church should be proud," said the Bishop of Sokoto

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - The Church in Nigeria has played a leading role in national peace efforts, but can do more, especially in promoting a political class inspired by Gospel values and the teaching of the Social Doctrine of the Church. This is the sense of the report presented by His Exc. Mgr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of Sokoto, at the Conference "New Challenges for Catholic Peacebuilding" organized in Rome on May 30 by the Pontifical Council "Justice and Peace" and Caritas Internationalis.
In his speech Mgr. Kukah briefly traced the role carried out by the Church of Nigeria since independence in 1960, until now to preserve national unity and reconcile men, especially after the Biafran war (1967-70). In this regard, Mgr. Kukah emphasizes that "the Catholic Bishops in Nigeria have played a role of which the universal Church should be proud." "If the Nigerian state had taken note of these interventions, perhaps our condition would have been different," continues Mgr. Kukah, referring to the scourge of corruption and that the Boko Haram sect, whose initial religious inspiration turned into violent action, supported by "people with other motives."
But beyond the efforts made what is the impact of the Church in society? "The average Nigerian citizen, whether Muslim or Christian, acknowledges that the Catholic bishops were truly the voice of the voiceless," said Mgr. Kukah. "The real challenge is to carry out a more active role in changing the character of the political landscape, perhaps favoring a more energetic role of the faithful." The Bishop of Sokoto notes that "there are already some prominent Catholics in public life such as governors, senators, ministers and so on. But they are more the product of other political influences based on ethnic support or of a party, and not on the fact that they are Catholics." This requires, according to Mgr. Kukah, investing in the formation of the faithful in order to learn the social Doctrine of the Church (and also the Nigerian Constitution). (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 31/5/2012)