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…
When Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in 1925, he did so in a world shaken by turmoil. The first decades of the twentieth century had unleashed unprecedented storms: the First World War had torn nations apart; the Bolshevik Revolution had overturned the old order in Russia; Stalin was consolidating his iron rule; Mussolini was perfecting…
My journey to the Republic of Niger started in silence. When I told my family I was leaving for a mission, the room grew cold, as if a funeral had begun. The next Sunday, when I shared the news with my parishioners, their reaction was even sharper: the congregation burst into tears. Their fear stemmed from the dominant media narrative:…