In-depth articles by columnists
The Church in Africa is one of the most vibrant and rapidly growing communities in global Catholicism today. The Pontifical Yearbook, in its 2024 edition, reports that Africa accounts for 20% of the world’s Catholics and is characterised by a highly dynamic spread of the Catholic Church. From the Second Vatican Council to the Synods on Africa (1994 and 2009),…
On a humid afternoon in a public secondary school in southeastern Nigeria, I was asked to address students preparing for their final examinations. After speaking about discipline and hope, I posed a simple question: What does faith mean to you? A boy in the front row raised his hand and replied without hesitation, “Faith means not asking questions.” The class…
The recent Lifetime Achievement Award given to the Father of Afrobeat, Nigeria’s Fela Anikulapo Kuti, calls for celebration and reflection on his enduring legacy. Fela is the first African to win this award, albeit posthumously. While many of his numerous admirers will wonder why he never received it while he was alive, or why it has taken nearly three decades…
The Vatican document Una Caro in Praise of Monogamy reaffirms the Catholic Church’s enduring teaching that marriage is an exclusive and indissoluble union between one man and one woman. For Catholics, this teaching is neither negotiable nor unfamiliar. It is rooted in Scripture, upheld by Tradition, and cherished as a sacramental sign of Christ’s faithful love for the Church. Yet,…
For many decades, African Catholic Churches have faithfully celebrated the sacred liturgy with deep reverence and growing local participation. Yet, one troubling contradiction remains largely unexamined: while the Church in Africa is rich in human resources—young people, scientists, agronomists, chemists, theologians, and researchers—we still depend almost entirely on imported wine and other imported liturgical products for the celebration of the…
When the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) recently published Una caro, it did more than restate Catholic teaching on marriage. It revived a troubling pattern in global Catholic discourse: speaking about Africa without listening to Africa. The document’s claim that “monogamous marriage in Africa would be considered an exceptional reality, given the widespread practice of polygamy”…
The U.S. Christmas Day airstrike in Nigeria may have been framed as a counter-terrorism success. For Nigerians and Africans, it should instead provoke grief, sober reflection, and an urgent national conversation about sovereignty, violence, and the future of the Nigerian state.” — Stan Chu Ilo The U.S. Christmas Day airstrike on Nigeria should worry Nigerians and all Africans. Rather than…
The Diocese of Dori, at the heart of Burkina Faso’s Sahel region, was once a land of vibrant faith. From the parish of Sebba to Gorom-Gorom and Gorgadji, the sound of church bells mingled with the songs of the faithful, and priests travelled freely to serve their communities. Today, that same land bears the wounds of violence and fear. The…
“Gen Z” (Generation Zoomer), a term borrowed from the practice of using zoom, refers to people born between 1997 and 2012. This generation saw the massive expansion of the Internet, a gigantic information warehouse, and the dizzying rise and global spread of different social media platforms. Their period of growing up also included the Great Recession (late 2007–mid-2009) and the…
The Catholic Bishops of Nigeria have released a bold and prophetic statement on the state of the nation—one that echoes from the depths of our moral conscience with spiritual authority and pastoral urgency. With clarity and grief, the bishops lament the persistent violence that has “claimed many lives, destroyed homes, and displaced families.” Their sorrow is rooted in the disproportionate…