Angelus News | January 15, 2021 | Vol. 6 No. 1

Owerri Archbishop Anthony Obinna (left) and Bishop Moses Chikwe.
ARCHDIOCESE OF OWERRI
“He just had that pastoral presence and love of the faith,
and an ability to get the people around him,” said Father
Rocha. “I think that’s what a bishop is called to do.”
Bishop Chikwe’s new assignment meant taking up a
shepherd’s role in one of the most dangerous places in
the world to be Catholic.
Of the more than 4,000 Christians killed for their faith
around the world in 2018, about 90% were from Nigeria,
according to the aid group Open Doors.
Nigerian Christians face violence from Muslim-majority
Fulani herdsmen in the country’s “middle belt,” a region
that separates Nigeria’s Muslim north and Christian south,
as well as from Islamic terrorists from ISIS affiliate Boko
Haram, and roving criminal gangs.
Since the election of President Muhammadu Buhari in
2015, the security situation in Nigeria has deteriorated, said
Father Chidi Ekpendu, a Nigerian priest who serves as a
judge in the LA archdiocese’s marriage tribunal.
While there has been a recent uptick in priests being seized
for extortion, the kidnapping of a bishop is “unprecedented,”
Father Ekpendu told Angelus.
“There is a lot of confusion,” said Father Ekpendu, whose
home Diocese of Aba neighbors Owerri. “We have to say it
the way it is: There has been a complete breakdown of law
and order in the entire Nigerian state. People live in fear all
the time.”
Christians have borne the brunt of the suffering under
22 • ANGELUS • January 15, 2021
Buhari’s rule. The former army general, who ruled as military
head of state from 1983 to 1985, has been accused of
empowering Islamic terrorists targeting Christians.
News of Bishop Chikwe’s kidnapping came as a shock to
the Micalettis, who had exchanged virtual messages just two
days before on Christmas.
Bishop Chikwe was well aware of the dangers of being a
priest in Nigeria, but always expressed calm when asked
about the situation there, the couple recalled.
“He would always say that the more responsibilities you
have, the more you need to pray,” said Cynthia.
Questions about who kidnapped Bishop Chikwe and his
driver and how they were released remain unclear. In a message
to Father Rocha a few days after his liberation, Bishop
Chikwe said he was “gradually healing” from the experience
and asked for prayers, but didn’t offer many details about the
ordeal.
Patrick, who described living the agony of his uncle’s kidnapping
here in LA as a personal “nightmare,” has not heard
who was responsible, either, but added that upticks in crime
in the area are common during the Christmas holidays.
And while he’s sure all the prayers helped, Father Rocha
also likes to imagine Bishop Chikwe’s smile — and his laugh
— winning over even the meanest of kidnappers.
“Being who he is, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just
convinced them to let him go.”
Pablo Kay is the editor-in-chief of Angelus.
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