VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXV - # 54
DATE 17-03-2015

Summary:
- Pope Expresses his Nearness to the Bishops and People of Nigeria
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 Pope Expresses his Nearness to the Bishops and People of Nigeria
Vatican City, 17 March, 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis has written a letter to the
Bishops of Nigeria ensuring them of his nearness to all those in that country.
Although Nigeria has one of the strongest economies in all of Africa, it is
facing new and violent forms of extremism and fundamentalism that tragically
affect the society as a whole. The letter, published today, is dated 2 March,
2015. Following is the full text of the letter:
While we walk this Lenten journey towards the Resurrection of the Lord united
with the whole Church, I wish to extend to you, dear Archbishops and Bishops of
Nigeria, a fraternal greeting, which I extend to the beloved Christian
communities entrusted to your pastoral care. I would also like to share some
thoughts with you on the current situation in your country.
Nigeria, known as the ''African giant'', withits more than 160 million
inhabitants, is set to play a primary role, not only in Africa but in the world
at large. In recent years, it has experienced robust growth in the economic
sphere and has again reasserted itself on the world stage as an attractive
market, on account of its natural resources as well as its commercial
potential.
It is now considered officially the single largest African economy. It has also
distinguished itself as a political player widely committed to the resolution
of
crisis situations in the continent.
At the same time, your nation has had to confront considerable problems, among
them new and violent forms of extremism and fundamentalism on ethnic, social
and
religious grounds. Many Nigerians have been killed, wounded or mutilated,
kidnapped and deprived of everything: their loved ones, their land, their means
of subsistence, their dignity and their rights. Many have not been able to
return to their homes. Believers, both Christian andMuslim, have experienced a
common tragic outcome, at the hands of people who claim to be religious, but
who
instead abuse religion, to make of it an ideology for their own distorted
interests of exploitation and murder.
I would like to assure you and all who suffer of my closeness. Every day I
remember you in my prayers and I repeat here, for your encouragement and
comfort, the consoling words of the Lord Jesus, which must always resound in
our
hearts: ''Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you''.
Peace ? as you know so well ? is not only the absence of conflict or the result
of political compromise or fatalistic resignation. Peace is for us a gift which
comes from on high; it is Jesus Christ himself, the Prince of Peace, who has
made of two peoples one (cf. Eph 2:14). And only the man or woman who treasures
the peace of Christ as a guiding light and way of life can become a peacemaker
(cf. Mt 5:9).
At the same time, peace is a daily endeavour, a courageous and authentic effort
to favour reconciliation, to promote experiences of sharing, to extend bridges
of dialogue, to serve the weakest and the excluded. In a word, peace consists
in
building up a ''culture of encounter''.
And so I wish here to express my heartfelt thanks to you, because in the midst
of so many trials and sufferings the Church in Nigeria does not cease to
witness
to hospitality, mercy and forgiveness. How can we fail to remember the priests,
religious men and women, missionaries and catechists who, despite untold
sacrifices, never abandoned their flock, but remained at their service as good
and faithful heralds of the Gospel? To them, most particularly, I would like to
express my solidarity, and to say: do not grow tired of doing what is right!
We give thanks to the Lord for them, as for so many men and women of every
social,cultural and religious background, who with great willingness stand up
in
concrete ways to every form of violence, and whose efforts are directed at
favouring a more secure and just future for all. They offer us moving
testimonies, which, as Pope Benedict XVI recalled at the end of the Synod for
Africa, show ''the power of the Spirit to transform the hearts of victims and
their persecutors and thus to re-establish fraternity'' .
Dear Brother Bishops, in perseverance and without becoming discouraged, go
forward on the way of peace . Accompany the victims! Come to the aid of the
poor! Teach the youth! Become promoters of a more just and fraternal society!
I gladly impart to you my Apostolic Blessing, which I ask you to extend to
priests, religious, missionaries, catechists, lay faithful and above all to
those suffering members of the Body of Christ.
May the Resurrection of the Lord bring conversion,reconciliation and peace to
all the people of Nigeria! I commend you to Mary, Queen of Africa, and I ask
you
also to pray for me.

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 Other Pontifical Acts
Vatican City, 17 March 2015 (VIS).-The Holy Father appointed Archbishop Giorgio
Lingua, apostolic nuncio to Irak and Jordan, as apostolic nuncio to Cuba.

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