Even though the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom named Nigeria a “country of particular concern” on May 1, Catholic Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, has said that the so-called religious violence between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria is not, in fact, about religion—a view that has been endorsed by the Sultan of Sokoto, one of Nigeria’s leading Muslims. These “are matters between groups with special interests,” the archbishop said during a meeting with members of the commission. Archbishop Onaiyekan attributed the conflicts to the corruption of politicians. Nigeria is an example of how opinions about religious freedom in a country can differ widely between international activists and a country’s native clergy. According to the commission, a country is designated as a country of concern when its government has “engaged in or tolerated systematic and egregious violations of the universal right to freedom of religion or belief.”
Causes of Nigerian Violence Debated
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
In this episode of Inside the Vatican, Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell discuss the 2025 Jubilee Year, beginning on Christmas Eve 2024 and ending in January 2026.
Pope Francis prayed that the Jubilee Year may become “a season of hope” and reconciliation in a world at war and suffering humanitarian crises as he opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve.
‘If God can visit us, even when our hearts seem like a lowly manger, we can truly say: Hope is not dead; hope is alive and it embraces our lives forever!’
Inspired by his friend and mentor Henri Nouwen, Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, leader of Ukrainian Catholics in the U.S., invites listeners in his Christmas Eve homily to approach the manger with renewed awe and openness.