Pope Leo XIV urges African Catholic schools as hope amid despair, violence; Nigerian bishop details closures, Church rebuilds in Benue insecurity.
Newsroom (07/11/2025, Gaudium Press ) Pope Leo XIV on Friday called on Catholic educators in Africa to make schools beacons of hope, addressing “silent cries for help” from fragile youth amid inner turmoil and escalating violence, as exemplified by crises in Nigeria’s Benue State.
In a Vatican audience with the International Foundation Religions and Societies – promoting quality Catholic education in Africa and North-South ties – the pontiff lauded their culturally rooted formation efforts.
The encounter followed the October 27-November 1 Jubilee of the World of Education and preceded the foundation’s Nairobi Congress on “Catholic Education and the Promotion of Signs of Hope in the African Context.”
Echoing Jubilee warnings of “generalized inner fragility,” Pope Leo insisted: “We cannot close our eyes to these silent cries for help.”
He pushed for collaborative missions, invoking Jesus dispatching disciples “two by two” to foster synergy beyond aid, including pastoral worker exchanges.
Endorsing an International Center for Missiology and North-South Pastoral Studies from a May Maredsous Abbey meeting in Belgium, he hoped it revives bold Gospel proclamation.
His message resonates amid ground-level strife. In Nigeria’s Katsina-Ala Diocese, Bishop Isaac Bunepuun Dugu told ACI Africa on November 5 that insecurity has shuttered schools, displaced teachers and students, and eroded learning in the violence-plagued Sankera axis.
“Teachers are afraid to go to work, and children have lost interest in school because their learning environment is no longer safe,” Bishop Dugu said during his 25th priestly anniversary events.
The diocese counters with rebuilt classrooms, teacher training, alternative centers, and scholarships. Displacement fuels poverty, pulling children into camps, he added, tying literacy to rights and reconstruction.
Diocesan peace-building engages rulers, officials, and armed youths. Bishop Dugu demanded federal rural security, road upgrades – especially the Gboko–Ugbema corridor – and praised Governor Rev. Hyacinth Iormem Alia’s reforms while urging Abuja’s support.
Anchored in evangelization, family aid, education, and peace, the diocese trains seminarians nationwide. “By God’s grace, our Diocese will be great,” he affirmed.
Pope Leo concluded by urging African educators as “missionary disciples” to highlight evangelization’s beauty, praying they fulfill divine will.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News and ACI Africa
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