The violent onslaught of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram has forced the Diocese of Maiduguri, which has suffered most from the militants, to effectively shrink to half its size according to its bishop.
Since Boko Haram began its offensive nearly five years ago, half of the parishes in the Diocese of Maiduguri have been deserted, according to Bishop Oliver Doeme. Ongoing violence has also displaced nearly half the local priests.
“We are thoroughly devastated by the Boko Haram attacks…as a Church, families, and individuals,” Bishop Doeme wrote in a Nov. 6 pastoral letter, which was obtained by Aid to the Church in Need. “We are wounded, traumatized, and devastated.”
The same day, Bishop Doeme told Channels TV that of the 46 priests working in his diocese, 20 have been displaced by Boko Haram; some are being sheltered in the neighboring Yola diocese. Twenty of Maiduguri’s 40 parishes have been deserted, with many of them looted, taken over, or burned down by Boko Haram….Read More
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