"NIGERIA: Pope asks bishops to preserve unity"

within the church and with other faiths



Taken from The Catholic World Report, April 2009.

"On Saturday morning, February 14, Pope Benedict XVI met with a group of Catholic bishops from Nigeria who were completing their ad limina visit, and encouraged them to exercise your episcopal authority in the struggle against unjust practices and corruption and against all causes and forms of discrimination and criminality, especially the degrading treatment of women and the deplorable practice of kidnapping.

"The Pope remarked that the rich harvest of vocations to priestly and religious life in Nigeria is a clear sign of the work of the Spirit among you, and asked the priests to guard against divisions -- either within the Church or within Nigerian society.

"He particularly mentioned the need for friendly relations with Muslim neighbors."