The ongoing cultural debate that erupted at the Ghana–Zambia economic forum in Lusaka between Zambians and Ghanaians over the dress code for African politicians and public officials is both interesting and revealing. It is revealing not because of what people said, but because the debate exposed Africa’s unresolved relationship with identity, dress codes, modernity, and power. The debate was triggered…
Many lovers of the beautiful game were shocked when the Senegal national football team, the Teranga Lions, walked off the field of play during stoppage time of the AFCON final after the Atlas Lions of Morocco were awarded a penalty. This came only moments after what appeared to be a trophy-winning Senegalese goal was ruled out. The sequence of events—an…
The recent attack and capture of President Maduro of Venezuela by American law enforcement and military, and the first consistory of the world’s cardinals convoked by Pope Leo, show two contrasting approaches to leadership that I wish to analyze in this essay. In the last eight months or so, people have begun to draw a sharp contrast between the two…
I remember the conversation I had with my late uncle, Felix Mgbo. This was a few years after I left my home country, Nigeria, for Rome. Uncle Felix asked me: “Are you coming home for Christmas?” “No, Uncle Felix, not this time,” I replied, sounding rather flat. “Do you realize,” he said, his voice suddenly heavy with emotion, “that you…
In his Angelus address on the eve of the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council on December 7, 2025, Pope Leo reminded the Church that Vatican II remains a living experience—a work of the Spirit whose fruits continue to unfold in unexpected ways. He noted that the Kingdom of God often buds forth…
❝ By following in St. Augustine’s footsteps to Africa, Pope Leo hopes to deepen the dialogue between Christianity and Islam, which lies at the very heart of his papal mission: to build bridges among peoples, cultures, civilizations, religions, races, and nations.” — Stan Chu Ilo On his return flight to Rome after a deeply symbolic and pastorally courageous journey to…
When Nigeria’s senior national team coach, Éric Chelle, accused DR Congo of practicing “voodoo” during the penalty shootout that ended Nigeria’s 2026 World Cup dream, many dismissed it as another episode of African football drama. But embedded in that accusation is a deeper and more troubling story about the strange, persistent entanglement between fear and ritual manipulation in the beautiful…
The recent story of Father John K. Ojuok, a Kenyan priest serving in the Diocese of Ogdensburg in upstate New York, is a small local news item that reveals a much larger crisis. Fr. Ojuok, who had been ministering legally in the United States on an R-1 religious worker visa, travelled home to Kenya in September to visit his mother…
One of the earliest disappointments I experienced as a newly ordained priest was that the first three sick people I anointed never recovered. They all died. I was then serving in a rural community in Eastern Nigeria where many had no access to good healthcare. The visit of a priest was not only for spiritual healing but also, in faith,…
The U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that came into effect this past weekend offers a brief and fragile respite. For many Gazans, it is a pause long overdue: families returning to the ruins of neighbourhoods flattened by rockets and bombardment found dust and silence where kitchens, schools, and lives once were. In the silence, Gaza has revealed itself as…