Gurgi Mosque seen through the Arch of Marcus Aurelius, in Tripoli, Libya. (Image: Z El Baz/Unsplash.com)
Tripoli, Libya, Apr 18, 2023 / 08:23 am (CNA).
Last week Libya’s Internal Security Agency launched a campaign in the city of Tripoli to arrest Libyan citizens and foreigners accused of apostasy from Islam and preaching Christianity.
The security agency did not specify the number of those arrested and refrained from publishing their names, stating only their initials.
The agency released a video of six Libyans — including a girl — as well as a Pakistani and two Americans with their faces blocked out in which they confess to the charges.
The two Americans worked at the Gateway International School in the Tripoli suburb of Zawiyat al-Dahmani that specializes in teaching English.
The government agency said that the two Americans and the wife of one of them belonged to the Assemblies of God Christian missionary organization. It was not revealed whether the wife was arrested or not.
The Americans were accused of secretly turning the school into a center for preaching the Christian religion.
The Internal Security Agency noted that the organization to which the Americans belong plays an important role in “seducing Libyans in various ways” to deviate from the Islamic religion.
In an official press release, the agency stated: “The Libyan people are proud to belong to their religion and consider it the solid foundation of their unifying national identity and regard any violation or abuse of it as a hostile act that threatens national security and seek[s] to sow discord and disunity among its people and those who comprise it.”
The Internal Security Agency “is keen to monitor suspicious activities and appeals that threaten the Islamic identity of our society, including the crime of apostasy and incitement to it.”
“Attacking our true religion is no different from acts of extremism and terrorism, and through monitoring and investigation, the agency monitored the rise in activities hostile to true Islam, targeting our youth of both sexes, many of whom left the country,” the statement said.
A member of the Supreme Council of State and the Political Dialogue Committee in Libya, Salem Musa Madi, announced on his Facebook page that his son Sifaw had been abducted in Tripoli on March 26. On April 6, he reported that he was apprehended by the Internal Security Agency on charges of converting to Christianity.
Open Doors reported that the current number of Christians in Libya is 35,400 (0.5% of the population).
Its report for the year 2023, which covers the period from Oct. 1, 2021, to the end of September 2022, indicates that 200 Christians were subjected to physical and psychological violence during that period, 19 Christians were kidnapped, and another 15 were arrested.
Eight Christian installations, including churches, were attacked either directly or in their environs.
Libya ranks fifth on the organization’s list of countries where Christians face the greatest persecution.
In its detailed report on Libya, the organization also draws attention to the great influence of the Turkey-Qatar axis, which supports political Islam, especially in Tripoli and the country’s west.
Political Islam replaces the laws or interprets them differently so that they restrict the practice of other religions. It also works to change the culture of society — which puts it under great pressure — so that it becomes more radical and extreme, not only toward other religions but also toward other Islamic sects.
The Internal Security Agency statement confirmed that the accused were transferred to the Office of the Public Prosecutor and thus face the risk of execution.
This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by ACI Prensa and CNA.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Seminarians at Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Nigeria’s Kaduna state where four students were kidnapped and one, Michael Nnadi, was killed in 2020. / Credit: Good Shepherd Major Seminary Kaduna/ Facebook
ACI Africa, Jan 26, 2024 / 11:40 am (CNA).
Last year, 2023, was a difficult year for Brother Peter Olarewaju, a postulant at the Benedictine monastery in Nigeria’s Ilorin Diocese who was kidnapped alongside two others at the monastery. Olarewaju underwent different kinds of torture and witnessed the murder of his companion, Brother Godwin Eze.
After his release, Olarewaju said his kidnapping was a blessing, as it had strengthened his faith. He even said that he is now prepared to die for his faith.
“I am prepared to die a martyr in this dangerous country. I am ready any moment to die for Jesus. I feel this very strongly,” Olarewaju said in an interview with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, on Nov. 26, 2023, days after he was set free by suspected Fulani kidnappers.
The late Brother Godwin Eze who was kidnapped from the Benedictine monastery in Nigeria’s Ilorin Diocese and murdered by his kidnappers in October 2023. Credit: Benedictine monastery, Eruku
The monk’s testimony is not an isolated case in Nigeria, where kidnapping from seminaries, monasteries, and other places of religious formation has been on the rise. While some victims of the kidnappings have been killed, those who survived the ordeal have shared that they have come back stronger — and ready to die for their faith.
Seminarian Melchior Maharini, a Tanzanian who was kidnapped alongside a priest from the Missionaries of Africa community in the Diocese of Minna in August 2023, said the suffering he endured during the three weeks he was held captive strengthened his faith. “I felt my faith grow stronger. I accepted my situation and surrendered everything to God,” he told ACI Africa on Sept. 1, 2023.
Father Paul Sanogo (left) and Seminarian Melchior Maharini (right) were kidnapped from their community of Missionaries of Africa in Nigeria’s Diocese of Minna. Credit: Vatican Media
Many other seminarians in Nigeria have been kidnapped by Boko Haram militants, Fulani herdsmen, and other bandit groups operating in Africa’s most populous nation.
In August 2023, seminarian David Igba told ACI Africa that he stared death in the face when a car in which he was traveling on his way to the market in Makurdi was sprayed with bullets by Fulani herdsmen.
Seminarian Na’aman Danlami died when the Fulanis attacked St. Raphael Fadan Kamantan Parish on the night of Sept. 7, 2023. Credit: Photo courtesy of Aid to the Church in Need
In September 2023, seminarian Na’aman Danlami was burned alive in a botched kidnapping incident in the Diocese of Kafanchan. A few days earlier, another seminarian, Ezekiel Nuhu, from the Archdiocese of Abuja, who had gone to spend his holidays in Southern Kaduna, was kidnapped.
Two years prior, in October 2021, Christ the King Major Seminary of Kafanchan Diocese was attacked and three seminarians were kidnapped.
Seminarian David Igba during a pastoral visit at Scared Heart Udei of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi. Credit: David Igba
In one attack that attracted global condemnation in 2020, seminarian Michael Nnadi was brutally murdered after he was kidnapped alongside three others from Good Shepherd Major Seminary in the Diocese of Kaduna. Those behind the kidnapping confessed that they killed Nnadi because he would not stop preaching to them, fearlessly calling them to conversion.
After Nnadi’s murder, his companions who survived the kidnapping proceeded to St. Augustine Major Seminary in Jos in Nigeria’s Plateau state, where they courageously continued with their formation.
The tomb of seminarian Michael Nnadi, who was brutally murdered after he was kidnapped alongside three others from the Good Shepherd Major Seminary in the Catholic Diocese of Kaduna in 2020. Credit: Father Samuel Kanta Sakaba, rector of a Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna
As Christian persecution rages in Nigeria, seminary instructors in the country have shared with ACI Africa that there is an emerging spirituality in Nigerian seminaries that many may find difficult to grasp: the spirituality of martyrdom.
They say that in Nigeria, those who embark on priestly formation are continuously being made to understand that their calling now entails being ready to defend the faith to the point of death. More than ever before, the seminarians are being reminded that they should be ready to face persecution, including the possibility of being kidnapped and even killed.
Father Peter Hassan, rector of St. Augustine Major Seminary in the Archdiocese of Jos, Plateau state, said that seminaries, just like the wider Nigerian society, have come to terms with “the imminence of death” for being Christian.
Father Peter Hassan, rector of St. Augustine Major Seminary in Jos, Nigeria, walks with an unnamed companion. Credit: Father Peter Hassan
“Nigerian Christians have been victims of violence of apocalyptic proportions for nearly half a century. I can say that we have learned to accept the reality of imminent death,” Hassan said in a Jan. 12 interview with ACI Africa.
He added: “Nevertheless, it is quite inspiring and comforting to see the many young men who are still ready to embrace a life that will certainly turn them into critically endangered species. Yet these same young men are willing to preach the gospel of peace and embrace the culture of dialogue for peaceful coexistence.”
Shortly after Nnadi’s kidnapping and killing, St. Augustine Major Seminary opened its doors to the three seminarians who survived the kidnapping.
Hassan told ACI Africa that the presence of the three former students of Good Shepherd Major Seminary was “a blessing” to the community of St. Augustine Major Seminary.
“Their presence in our seminary was a blessing to our seminarians, a wake-up call to the grim reality that not even the very young are spared by those mindless murderers,” Hassan said.
Back at Good Shepherd, seminarians have remained resilient, enrolling in large numbers even after the 2020 kidnapping and Nnadi’s murder.
Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna, Nigeria. Credit: Father Samuel Kanta Sakaba, rector of a Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna
In an interview with ACI Africa, Father Samuel Kanta Sakaba, the rector of Good Shepherd Major Seminary, said that instructors at the Catholic institution, which has a current enrollment of 265 seminarians, make it clear that being a priest in Nigeria presents the seminarians with the danger of being kidnapped or killed.
ACI Africa asked Sakaba whether or not the instructors discuss with the seminarians the risks they face, including that of being kidnapped, or even killed, to which the priest responded: “Yes, as formators, we have the duty to take our seminarians through practical experiences — both academic, spiritual, and physical experiences. We share this reality of persecution with them, but for them to understand, we connect the reality of Christian persecution in Nigeria to the experiences of Jesus. This way, we feel that it would be easier for them to not only have the strength to face what they are facing but to also see meaning in their suffering.”
“Suffering is only meaningful if it is linked with the pain of Jesus,” the priest said. “The prophet Isaiah reminds us that ‘by his wounds, we are healed.’ Jesus also teaches us that unless the grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it will remain a single grain, but that it is only when it falls and dies that it yields a rich harvest. Teachings such as these are the ones that deepen our resilience in the face of persecution.”
Seminarians and their instructors at St. Augustine Major Seminary in Jos, Nigeria. Credit: Father Peter Hassan
Sakaba spoke of the joy of those who look forward to “going back to God in a holy way.”
“Whatever happens, we will all go back to God. How joyful it is to go back to God in a holy way, in a way of sacrifice.” he said. “This holiness is accepting this cross, this pain. Jesus accepted the pain of Calvary, and that led him to his resurrection. Persecution purifies the individual for them to become the finished product for God. I believe that these attacks are God’s project, and no human being can stop God’s work.”
However, the rector clarified that those who enroll at the seminary do not go out seeking danger.
“People here don’t go out putting themselves in situations of risk,” he said. “But when situations such as these happen, the teachings of Jesus and his persecution give us courage to face whatever may come our way.”
Sakaba said that although priestly formation in Nigeria is embracing the “spirituality of martyrdom,” persecution in the West African country presents “a difficult reality.”
“It is difficult to get used to pain. It is difficult to get used to the issues of death … to get familiar with death,” he said. “No one chooses to go into danger just because other people are suffering; it is not part of our nature. But in a situation where you seem not to have an alternative, the grace of God kicks in to strengthen you to face the particular situation.”
Sakaba said that since the 2020 attack at Good Shepherd Major Seminary, the institution has had an air of uncertainty. He said that some of the kidnappers who were arrested in the incident have been released, a situation he said has plunged the major seminary into “fear of the unknown.”
“It hasn’t been easy for us since the release,” Sabaka told ACI Africa. “The community was thrown into confusion because of the unknown. We don’t know what will happen next. We don’t know when they will come next or what they will do to us. We don’t know who will be taken next.”
Seminarians at St. Augustine Major Seminary in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria, during a Marian procession. Credit: Father Peter Hassan
In the face of that, however, Sabaka said the resilience of the seminary community has been admirable. “God has been supporting, encouraging, and leading us. His grace assisted us to continue to practice our faith,” he said.
The jihadist attacks, which continue unabated in communities surrounding the seminary, do not make the situation easier.
Church at the Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna, Nigeria. Credit: Father Samuel Kanta Sakaba, rector of Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna
“Every attack that happens outside our community reminds us of our own 2020 experience. We are shocked, and although we remain deeply wounded, we believe that God has been leading us,” he said.
This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.
Maputo, Mozambique, Sep 5, 2019 / 03:13 am (CNA).- In his opening speech in Mozambique Thursday, Pope Francis encouraged the country’s authorities to work diligently for peace.
“Peace is not merely absence of war but a tireless commitment … […]
Pope Francis speaks from the Apostolic Palace during his general audience livestream April 14, 2021. / Vatican Media/CNA
Vatican City, Apr 14, 2021 / 05:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis said Wednesday that an essential task of the Chu… […]
5 Comments
So much for interreligious dialogue rooted in our universal “restless heart.” (Not to be confused with a so-called “pluralism” of religions).
But, take Mahmoud Ayoub, a professor of Islamic Studies in Philadelphia. His essays are collected in “A Muslim View of Christianity (Irfan A Omar, ed., 2007). Ayoub cites the Muslim theologian-philosopher Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149-1210 A,D.). Al-Razi arrives unsuspecting at a tipping point very similar to the “eureka” of Archimedes….He writes:
“It therefore follows that everything other than God is created in time, and hence preceded by nonbeing. This also means that all things came into being through God’s creative act and His power of bringing things from nonbeing to being. From this it follows that everything other than God is His slave and possession. IT IS THEREFORE IMPOSSIBLE THT ANYTHING OTHER THAN HE IS HIS OFFSPRING (caps added).
Only a half-step from mystery of the self-revealing Trinity where the distinct Father and Son are also One. Even Plato missed by a half-step, the Incarnation. And then, is there Muhammad himself (!) who, probably two years before his death, in the Qur’an also seems to come close: “If the Merciful had a son, I would be the first to adore him” (Q 43:81)?
Despite its post-pagan monotheism, early Islam still assimilated a few things pagan. One of these is jihad warrior code (like Bushido) and another is the predisposition to dismiss the Triune One as simply another pagan triad. What to do or say when Trinitarian Christianity is viewed subconsciously through a pagan filter? And, when the 21st century is confronted by both (a) radical Secularism in the West, and (b) a 7th-century, and very monolithic and cosmically remote monotheism?
To repeat a key insight about a loving God absolutely transcendent and immanent, both, this from von Balthasar:
“The responses of the Old Testament and a fortiori of Islam (which remains essentially in the enclosure of the religion of Israel) are incapable of giving a satisfactory answer to the question of why Yahweh, why Allah, created a world of which he did not have need in order to be God. ONLY THE FACT IS AFFIRMED IN THE TWO RELIGIONS, NOT THE WHY [italics in the original]. The Christian response is contained in these two fundamental dogmas: that of the Trinity and that of the Incarnation” (“My Life in Retrospect,” Ignatius, 1993).
Any purported religion that must be spread and maintained by the sword is obviously false. Error can’t win in the fight against truth in a level playing field.
That said, the attitude isn’t necessarily wrong. The Catholic Church teaches the true religion, and in the past heresy was a strong concern of Catholic governments.
So much for interreligious dialogue rooted in our universal “restless heart.” (Not to be confused with a so-called “pluralism” of religions).
But, take Mahmoud Ayoub, a professor of Islamic Studies in Philadelphia. His essays are collected in “A Muslim View of Christianity (Irfan A Omar, ed., 2007). Ayoub cites the Muslim theologian-philosopher Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149-1210 A,D.). Al-Razi arrives unsuspecting at a tipping point very similar to the “eureka” of Archimedes….He writes:
“It therefore follows that everything other than God is created in time, and hence preceded by nonbeing. This also means that all things came into being through God’s creative act and His power of bringing things from nonbeing to being. From this it follows that everything other than God is His slave and possession. IT IS THEREFORE IMPOSSIBLE THT ANYTHING OTHER THAN HE IS HIS OFFSPRING (caps added).
Only a half-step from mystery of the self-revealing Trinity where the distinct Father and Son are also One. Even Plato missed by a half-step, the Incarnation. And then, is there Muhammad himself (!) who, probably two years before his death, in the Qur’an also seems to come close: “If the Merciful had a son, I would be the first to adore him” (Q 43:81)?
Despite its post-pagan monotheism, early Islam still assimilated a few things pagan. One of these is jihad warrior code (like Bushido) and another is the predisposition to dismiss the Triune One as simply another pagan triad. What to do or say when Trinitarian Christianity is viewed subconsciously through a pagan filter? And, when the 21st century is confronted by both (a) radical Secularism in the West, and (b) a 7th-century, and very monolithic and cosmically remote monotheism?
To repeat a key insight about a loving God absolutely transcendent and immanent, both, this from von Balthasar:
“The responses of the Old Testament and a fortiori of Islam (which remains essentially in the enclosure of the religion of Israel) are incapable of giving a satisfactory answer to the question of why Yahweh, why Allah, created a world of which he did not have need in order to be God. ONLY THE FACT IS AFFIRMED IN THE TWO RELIGIONS, NOT THE WHY [italics in the original]. The Christian response is contained in these two fundamental dogmas: that of the Trinity and that of the Incarnation” (“My Life in Retrospect,” Ignatius, 1993).
Speak to the scimitar.
Any purported religion that must be spread and maintained by the sword is obviously false. Error can’t win in the fight against truth in a level playing field.
That said, the attitude isn’t necessarily wrong. The Catholic Church teaches the true religion, and in the past heresy was a strong concern of Catholic governments.
Hillary says, “I did that!” Very proud to kill Gadaffi and replace a secular tyrant with an Islamic tyrant. The Obama plan for a superior world.
Substitute a few words like “pagan” for “Christian” and “American” for “Lybian”, and one can easily see universal principles at work.
Godspeed, martyrs.