President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria

Catholic priests kidnapped in Nigeria. Another priest has been kidnapped in Nigeria. Fr Emmanuel Azubuike, who serves as a parish priest as St. Theresa Obollo parish in the Diocese of Okigwe, was kidnapped while traveling in Obollo in Imo State in the southeast of Nigeria on the way home from an assignment. Nigerian Christians have suffered what Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto described as “an epidemic of kidnappings.” There have been a number of Catholic priests kidnapped recently. Fr Thomas Oyode, rector of Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in the Diocese of Auchi, was kidnapped on October 27 and remains in the hands of his kidnappers. Fr Gabriel Ukeh was kidnapped on June 9 from his parish rectory in the Diocese of Kafanchan. Fr Oliver Buba of the Diocese of Yola was kidnapped on May 21 and has since been released. Fr Basil Gbuzuo of the Archdiocese of Onitsha was taken on May 15 and has also since been released. It’s not only priests being targeted. Everyone is a target. Terrorists groups have been using kidnappings and demands for ransom as a way to obtain funds for their activities. In 2023 4,067 people were kidnapped and 9,734 were killed in Nigeria. Bishop Kukah reported that in 2023 his diocese spend 30 million naira (about $37,000) for the release of Church personnel from their kidnappers. Estimates are that over $18 million has been spent by families and the government to rescue those kidnapped between June 2011 and March 2020. In March of this year, 280 school children in Kaduna were kidnapped by armed men demanding $600,000 in ransom. The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, said, “The government is not paying anybody any dime and the government is optimistic that these children and other people … will be brought back to their families in safety.” Tinubu also said that, going forward, kidnappers would be treated as terrorists. As for Fr Azubuike, spokesman for the Imo state police, Henry Okoye, said that “the CP [Commissioner of Police] has set up a high-powered investigation team to look into this matter for possible rescue of the Catholic priest and apprehension of the suspects.” Fr Princewill Iwuanyanwu asked prayers for Fr Azubuike’s rescue: “We solicit your fervent prayers that he may come back to us safe and sound while trusting in your goodwill and solidarity.” Lord, hear our prayer for the safe return of Fr Azukuike, of all who have been kidnapped in Nigeria, and for peace and religious freedom in that embattled country. Amen.

King Baudouin of Belgium

Pope in hot water in Belgium. Pope Francis has angered secular leaders in Belgium with his comments about abortion on his return trip to Rome from Belgium. During his late September visit to Belgium Pope Francis recognized and praised the late King Baudouin, who abdicated for a day in 1990 so he would not have to sign into law the legalization of abortion in Belgium. The king was a devout Catholic who was pro-life and did not want to sign the pro-abortion legislation. So, with the permission of parliament, he stepped down for a day, thereby avoiding having to sign the newly passed law legalizing abortion. Pope Francis even said he would begin the process of beatifying King Baudouin. When questioned about his tribute to the late king, part of Pope Francis’ answer included some harsh realities about abortion: “Let’s not forget to say this: Abortion is murder. Science says that just one month from conception, all the organs are present. A human being dies, a human being is killed. The doctors who take part in this are – allow me to use the word – they’re hitmen. They are hitmen. On this point, there’s no discussion. A human life is being killed.” Given that the pope’s remarks were made on his return trip from Belgium, and in the context of an answer to a question about the late King Baudouin of Belgium, and given the sacrosanct regard for abortion by secular leaders in Belgium (and, really, throughout Europe), some Belgian politicans didn’t appreciate the pope’s words, interpreting them even as an attack on the democratic system by which laws are passed in Belgium. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo snorted, “It is absolutely unacceptable for a foreign head of state to make such statements about democratic decision-making in our country.” He said he would call the Vatican ambassador of Belgium to his office to huff and puff at him. The rector of the Free University of Brussels, Jan Danckeart, wrote an op-ed in De Standaard, the Dutch-language daily, where he snarled that the pope’s remarks on abortion, “not only insult the doctors who perform abortions, but also Belgium and its population. It is actually unheard of that a foreign head of state – because that is what Pope Francis is [thank you, yes, we know that] – assumes the right to attack a law of another and moreover democratic country.” My guess is that Danckeart doesn’t include unborn children in the population of Belgium. Also, let’s remember that the Enabling Act of 1933 was passed by the German Reichstag and signed into law by the duly-elected German President Paul von Hindenburg. So, democracy is no guarantee of the righteousness of laws. There is a measure before the Belgian parliament that would expand access to abortion from the first 12 weeks to the first 18 of pregnancy. Perhaps that’s why these guys have their undies in a wad. They’re afraid, maybe, that the pope’s remarks would encourage some Belgians to oppose the measure? Abortion, like chattel slavery before it, is the great cause of elites in Europe, and in America. They regard themselves as the protectors of women, even as they murder females in the womb, who are often targeted for abortion on the basis of being female. These pretenders of righteousness will do anything to protect their holy sacrament of abortion, because it allows them to act as if they care about people, while at the same time profiting, either politically or financially, from the murder of millions. That Pope Francis – the so-called “liberal” pope – called them out only reveals more spectacularly their hypocrisy and elitist claims of superiority and control over an entire group of people they regard as less in dignity and substance than themselves. God knows the truth, and those who reject God’s truth will answer for it.

Cardinal Ambongo of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Congolese Cardinal says, “Not so fast!” on beatification of King Baudouin. More news on Belgium King Baudouin related to Pope Francis saying he would begin the process for beatification of the late king. During a Mass at King Baudouin stadium in Brussels, Pope Francis said, “On my return to Rome, I will open the process for the beatification of King Baudouin.” Pretty uncontroversial for most Westerners, I think, (except for the many secularist in Belgium who don’t regard the king with much respect, given that he was a devout Catholic who opposed abortion). But for Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, OFM Cap, of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa in the DRC, it is controversial. The Cardinal, who heads up the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, is raising objections to the “hasty beatification” of the king. It seems that Cardinal Ambongo is concerned about the possible involvement of King Baudouin in the 1961 assassination of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. “There is still this file,” Cardinal Ambongo said in a briefing in Rome on October 22, “which we can call a dark spot.” During the tumult that ensued after the DRC won independence from Belgium, Lumumba was chosen as prime miniseter, then deposed as prime minister, then arrested, then killed by firing squad in January 1961. The soldiers who transferred Lumumba to the place where he was executed, and the firing squad that executed him, and those who later destroyed his remains, were soldiers under Belgian command. Given that King Baudouin was king of Belgium at the time (1951-1993), it’s not unreasonable to wonder if he played some part in Lumumba’s assassination, who had political leanings toward the Soviet Union. If however, after an investigation, King Baudouin is exonerated of any part in Lumumba’s assassination, Cardinal Ambongo has said he would be “open” to Baudouin being beatified. I don’t know anything about King Baudouin except what I’ve read of him for the purpose of this post. But Cardinal Ambongo has a point. The Church needs to look carefully into the entire career of those she considers for sainthood. The fact that King Baudouin stood down for a day so he wouldn’t have to sign pro-abortion legislation because of his Catholic convictions is a good thing. If he played any part in the assassination of a political figure in the DRC, or of anyone for that matter, that would be a bad thing, and call into question the depth of his Catholic convictions. The Church is obliged to take Cardinal Ambongo’s “dark spot” seriously before placing a halo on Baudouin’s head.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.