Africa

In Nigeria's Edo state, gunmen stormed Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in the Diocese of Auchi the night of July 10, killing a security officer and abducting three seminarians, according to Aid to the Church in Need.

A Nigerian priest who previously served in Alaska remains missing after being captured by Boko Haram operatives in his homeland, OSV News has learned.

More than 500 Christians in Nigeria have been murdered by Fulani militants since the start of April, according to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) UK’s Head of Press and Public Affairs John Pontifex.

Open Doors Canada is honouring persecuted Christians around the world with its One With Them challenge, a five-day prayer initiative devoted to the faithful suffering for their faith around the world.

After a scene of horror in which around 200 people were “brutally killed” in Yelwata, in Benue state, Nigeria, Pope Leo XIV prayed for the victims, calling it a “terrible massacre.”

In the presence of the mother of the newly beatified martyr, Pope Leo XIV prayed that Blessed Floribert Bwana Chui would intercede to finally bring peace to Congo.

Sub-Saharan Africa has replaced Europe as the locus for the world’s Christians, due to both higher birthrates and Western Europe’s “widespread Christian disaffiliation” — with Christians declining as a share of the world’s population due to adherents leaving the faith, according to new research by the Pew Research Center.

As millions of pilgrims flocked to the famed Ugandan shrine in Namugongo in the days leading to commemoration of the country's 45 Christian martyrs, local authorities prevented an attempted terror attack in what they said was a swift secret service operation, possibly saving hundreds from imminent death.

Catholic bishops from Europe and Africa have issued a strong joint statement warning that Africa is once again becoming a "battleground for external interests"—particularly over land, resources and Europe's climate agenda.

The Catholic Register’s exclusive April 8 report about the threats two Nigerian clerics are facing for speaking abroad about Christian persecution in Benue State has sparked condemnations against religious intimidation from the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Nigeria, an international religious freedom alliance and by U.S. and U.K. politicians.