Nigerian diocese laments desecration of Church, orders reparation

Church leaders in the Catholic diocese of Kafanchan in Nigeria have decried the desecration of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, describing it as “a most grievous sacrilege.”

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YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Church leaders in the Catholic diocese of Kafanchan in Nigeria have decried the desecration of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, describing it as “a most grievous sacrilege.”

In a statement dated May 12, the Vicar General for Pastoral Affairs, Father Jacob Shanet, condemned the incident, revealing that on May 4, 2025, the tabernacle at the church in the Unguwar Rimi of Bajju was forcibly opened, and the eucharistic hosts were stolen.

“With deep sorrow and pastoral concern, we write to inform you of a most grievous sacrilege committed against the Most Holy Eucharist,” the statement reads.

“This act constitutes a Sacrilegium – the profanation of what is consecrated to God,” the priest continued.

He cited the 1983 Code of Canon Law which states that “A person who throws away the consecrated species or takes or retains them for sacrilegious purpose incurs a Latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See.”

“Such a wound to the Mystical Body of Christ calls for a united response of reparation and fervent intercession,” Shanet said.

Bishop Julius Yakubu Kundi of Kafanchan has issued directives for reparation.

“All Priests of the Diocese of Kafanchan are to offer a Mass of Reparation on Friday, May 16, 2025,” the directive states. “This should be offered with the intention of making amends for this sacrilege and imploring the mercy of God upon those responsible.”

In addition, “all Parishes, religious houses, and faithful are urged to participate in acts of reparation throughout the week,” he further says.

The acts of reparation should include “Eucharistic Adoration, with particular attention to silence and reverence, the Rosary, invoking Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the patroness of the parish affected, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, offered for the conversion of those who committed this offense, and public and private prayers for the safe and reverent return of the Sacred Species.”

“Let this grave offense awaken in us a renewed reverence for the Holy Eucharist, which the Second Vatican Council described as the source and summit of the Christian life,” Shanet says in his May 12 statement.

“We entrust our supplications to the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and pray that through this trial, hearts may be turned back to God, and love for the Eucharistic Lord may be deepened in our Diocese,” he continues.

The diocese has very often been the theater of attacks on the Church and its leaders.

On March 4, Father Sylvester Okechukwu of Kafanchan Diocese was abducted from his residence at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Tachira. He was later found murdered in the early hours of Ash Wednesday on March 5.

Seminarian Na’Aman Danlami Stephen of the same diocese was burned to death on Sept. 7, 2023, when jihadist Fulani herdsmen attacked the rectory at St. Raphael Church in Fadan Kamantan.

“For over two decades now, we have been struggling with insecurities ranging from Boko haram, herdsmen attacks and banditry,” said Kundi in an interview.

And it’s an issue that spans across Nigeria. According to the BBC, six Catholic priests and seminarians were abducted between March and April this year. At least two of them were killed.

Nigeria has been reeling from terrorist attacks since 2009 when Boko Haram began its murderous campaign intended to create a caliphate across the Sahel. It’s since been joined in a campaign to annihilate Christianity by several other terrorist organizations, including Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP and Fulani jihadist herdsmen.

The latest report by the Catholic–inspired NGO, International Society for Civil liberties and the Rule of Law, Intersociety indicates that the combined actions of these terrorist organizations and the complicit inaction of Nigerian security agencies have slowed down the growth of Christianity in Africa’s most populous nation by at least 30 percent.

It said an estimated 19,000 churches and 4,000 Christian schools have been attacked, burned, or forcibly shut down. Nearly 40 million Northern Christians were uprooted, threatened, or driven from their ancestral homes and communities to escape deadly violence simply for being Christian.

In addition, tens of thousands of defenseless Christians have been brutally killed, abducted, or permanently disappeared, with many enduring horrific torture before death in captivity. Furthermore, an estimated 20,000 square miles of land — along with hundreds of thousands of hectares belonging to indigenous Christian communities — has been seized, occupied, and renamed. Nearly 1,000 Christian communities have been uprooted and stripped of their heritage.

“Had these grave atrocities been prevented, Catholicism and the broader defense of the Christian faith in Nigeria would have grown by at least 30 percent, strengthening religious freedom and deepening the faith of millions,” Emeka Umeagbalasi, the Director of Intersociety told Crux.