Nigerian priest dies shortly after being kidnapped

September 24, 2018 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Warri, Nigeria, Sep 24, 2018 / 02:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Catholic priest in Nigeria died Sept. 19, just days after escaping from kidnappers, according to local media reports. The exact cause of his death has not yet been made public.

Fr. Louis Odudu was kidnapped Sept. 14 and released the next day, according to the Diocese of Warri, although there are some reports that he escaped. Four days later, Fr. Odudu reportedly complained of pain before being taken to the hospital where he died. Whether or not he died as a result of injuries sustained during his kidnapping ordeal has not been made public by the diocese.

The Nigerian Daily Post reports that five Catholic priests have been abducted in the southern Nigerian state of Delta in 2018 alone.

Fr. Odudu was chaplain of the Seat of Wisdom Catholic Chaplaincy at the Petroleum Training Institute, a training school for the oil and gas industry located in the port city of Warri. Ordained in 1987, Fr. Odudu had been on sabbatical for two years in the United Kingdom before returning to his home diocese in 2018. He was assigned to the chaplaincy about two months before his kidnapping and death.

Members of the Diocese of Warri were already mourning the death of Fr. Stephen Ekakabor, who died in early September following a brain injury sustained during an armed invasion of his rectory in 2017. Members of the diocese were reportedly holding prayer vigils for Fr. Ekakabor on the day of Fr. Odudu’s death.

The governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, offered his condolences Sept. 21 to the Bishop of Warri and condemned the “renewed onslaught against Catholic priests and clergymen, assuring that Government will work closely with security agencies to arrest the ugly trend,” according to the diocese.

The Nigerian bishops speak out frequently to criticize the government for being slow to act in the face of violence against Nigerians for religious and political reasons.

 

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Catholic Church in Turkey consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

June 10, 2024 Catholic News Agency 0
On Friday, June 7, 2024, the day of the feast of the Sacred Heart, the Catholic Church in Turkey was consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in St. John’s Cathedral, Izmir. / Credit: Nathalie Ritzmann

ACI MENA, Jun 10, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

On Friday, June 7, the feast of the Sacred Heart, the Catholic Church in Turkey was consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in St. John’s Cathedral, Izmir.

Monsignor Marek Solczyński, apostolic nuncio to Turkey, presided over the ceremony and was surrounded by almost all the bishops of the country’s four Catholic communities —  Latin, Armenian, Syriac, and Chaldean. Also present was Father James Buxton of Izmir’s Anglican Church.

On Friday, June 7, 2024, the Catholic Church in Turkey was consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in St John's Cathedral, Izmir. Monsignor Marek Solczyński, apostolic nuncio to Turkey, presided over the ceremony and was surrounded by almost all the bishops of the country's four Catholic communities. Credit: Nathalie Ritzmann
On Friday, June 7, 2024, the Catholic Church in Turkey was consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in St John’s Cathedral, Izmir. Monsignor Marek Solczyński, apostolic nuncio to Turkey, presided over the ceremony and was surrounded by almost all the bishops of the country’s four Catholic communities. Credit: Nathalie Ritzmann

Father Alessandro Amprino, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Izmir, had the idea for the consecration. He will be representing the Turkish Catholic Church in Quito, Ecuador, from Sept. 8–15 at the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress, the theme of which will be: “Fraternity to Heal the World: You Are All Brothers and Sisters (Mt 23:8).”

Ecuador was the first country to be consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1874, 150 years ago.

Amprino explained that when he saw the enthusiasm and current spiritual fruits of this consecration in Ecuador, his heart was filled with the wish to offer the same opportunity to the Church in Turkey. He proposed it to the CET (Turkish Episcopal Conference) as an initiative for the national Eucharistic year of the Catholic Church in Turkey, organized this year in conjunction with the Quito Congress.

On Friday, June 7, 2024, the day of the feast of the Sacred Heart, the Catholic Church in Turkey was consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in St. John's Cathedral, Izmir. Credit: Nathalie Ritzmann
On Friday, June 7, 2024, the day of the feast of the Sacred Heart, the Catholic Church in Turkey was consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in St. John’s Cathedral, Izmir. Credit: Nathalie Ritzmann

Three events will take place at the national level, one for each diocese: a spiritual retreat for religious in Iskenderun, the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Cathedral of St. John the Apostle in Izmir (which just took place), and the conclusion of the national Eucharistic year in Istanbul. 

As for the choice of the Izmir cathedral named after St. John, it was St. John the Apostle who laid his head against the heart of Jesus during the Last Supper.

The homily was given by Monsignor Martin Kmetec, archbishop of Izmir’s Roman Catholics, whose mandate as president of the CET was renewed the previous day.

The Catholic Church in Turkey was consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in St John's Cathedral, Izmir on June 7, 2024. The homily was given by Monsignor Martin Kmetec, archbishop of Izmir’s Roman Catholics, whose mandate as president of the CET was renewed the previous day. Credit: Nathalie Ritzmann
The Catholic Church in Turkey was consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in St John’s Cathedral, Izmir on June 7, 2024. The homily was given by Monsignor Martin Kmetec, archbishop of Izmir’s Roman Catholics, whose mandate as president of the CET was renewed the previous day. Credit: Nathalie Ritzmann

After Communion, everyone knelt before the altar to adore the Eucharist, which was exposed there. The hymn “Pange Lingua” was sung, followed by silent adoration. Next, the litanies of the Sacred Heart were prayed.

Then, in unison with the whole assembly, the nuncio read the prayer of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the celebration ended with a Eucharistic blessing.

This story was first published by ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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