Vatican City, November 17, 2025 – In a poignant appeal delivered during his Sunday Angelus address, Pope Leo XIV has drawn international attention to the plight of Christian communities facing discrimination and violence in several nations, explicitly naming Nigeria alongside Bangladesh, Mozambique, and Sudan. The pontiff's remarks, shared via his official X account and echoed in the Vatican's official transcript, underscore a deepening crisis of religious freedom that has claimed thousands of lives in 2025 alone. Speaking from the Apostolic Palace window overlooking St. Peter's Square, the Pope expressed profound sorrow over "frequent attacks on communities and places of worship," framing the issue as a call for universal prayer and interfaith solidarity.
"I think especially of Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique, Sudan, and other countries from which we frequently hear of attacks on communities and places of worship. God is a merciful Father who desires peace among all His children!" Pope Leo XIV wrote in his X post on November 16, 2025. The statement, which garnered over 500,000 engagements within hours, reflects the new pontiff's early emphasis on global religious harmony, a theme he has pursued since his election in July 2025 following the death of Pope Francis. In the same address, the Pope extended prayers to families in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) Kivu region, where a recent massacre at a church-run hospital in Byambwe claimed at least 20 lives, including vulnerable patients. "Let us pray that all violence may cease and that believers may work together for the common good," he added, urging local and international leaders to collaborate in preventing further atrocities.
The Pope's intervention comes at a critical juncture for Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and home to over 100 million Christians, where 2025 has been marked by an unprecedented surge in faith-based violence. According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), more than 7,000 Christians have been killed in targeted attacks this year—an average of 35 deaths per day—surpassing global figures for religious persecution fatalities. Extremist groups like Boko Haram, ISIS West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani militants have been implicated in a string of assaults, including the June massacre in Benue State that displaced thousands and killed over 200 believers. Earlier incidents, such as the April 2025 Palm Sunday attack in Plateau State that claimed 56 lives, including 15 children, and burned 103 homes, highlight a pattern of premeditated strikes on worshippers and villages.
These events have not only devastated communities but also exacerbated Nigeria's humanitarian crisis, with over 3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing violence in the north and Middle Belt regions. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the umbrella body for the country's denominations, affirmed in an October 2025 statement that "many Christian communities... have suffered severe attacks, loss of life, and the destruction of places of worship," rejecting denials of the crisis's scale. CAN's President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, emphasized that while insecurity affects all faiths, Christians in northern states face "systematic" targeting, echoing reports from human rights monitors like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Pope Leo XIV's remarks resonate with parallel concerns raised by U.S. President Donald Trump, who in late October 2025 re-designated Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Trump's announcement, posted on Truth Social, blamed "radical Islamists" for a "mass slaughter" and threatened sanctions, military intervention, and aid cuts if the violence persists. "If Nigeria does not halt the persecution of Christians, I may send U.S. forces—guns-a-blazing," he warned on November 1, prompting bipartisan applause from lawmakers like Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who have led congressional probes into the issue. The CPC label, first applied in 2020 under Trump's initial term and removed by the Biden administration in 2021, now mandates U.S. policy responses, including potential visa restrictions and asset freezes on Nigerian officials.
Nigeria's federal government, led by President Bola Tinubu, swiftly rejected the designation as "unfounded" and politically motivated, insisting that the nation upholds its secular constitution and protects all faiths equally. In a November 1 X post, Tinubu affirmed: "The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality," highlighting government efforts like military operations against Boko Haram and interfaith dialogues. Information Minister Mohammed Idris echoed this, calling claims of "Christian genocide" "very misleading" and pointing to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), which shows only 50 of 1,923 civilian attacks in 2025 were explicitly anti-Christian. Critics, including the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Nigeria, condemned the U.S. move as "divisive," arguing it ignores violence against Muslims and risks fueling ethnic tensions.
Yet, the government's rebuttal has drawn sharp rebukes from advocacy groups. Open Doors, which ranks Nigeria sixth on its World Watch List of persecuted countries, reported nearly 70% of global Christian martyrdoms occurring there in 2025, urging accountability for blasphemy laws in 12 northern states that disproportionately affect minorities. The International Christian Concern (ICC) documented over 50,000 Christian deaths since 2009, with 19,000 churches destroyed, attributing much of the impunity to inadequate prosecutions. Economically, the CPC tag has already shaved ₦1.3 trillion ($800 million) from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) in a single trading session post-announcement, signaling investor jitters over potential sanctions.
Beyond Nigeria, the Pope's list spotlights interconnected global hotspots. In Bangladesh, rising Hindu-Christian tensions amid political unrest have seen church burnings in Cox's Bazar, displacing hundreds. Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province endures ISIS-linked insurgencies, with over 1,000 Christian deaths reported since 2021, including a September 2025 raid on a Palma cathedral. Sudan's civil war has weaponized faith divides, with Rapid Support Forces targeting Christian enclaves in Darfur, killing 500 believers in Khartoum alone this year. The DRC's Kivu massacres, like the July 2025 Komanda church attack that slew 40 during prayer, illustrate how jihadist groups like the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) exploit mineral-rich instability, abducting and beheading civilians in acts decried as "beyond imagination."
Pope Leo XIV's appeal, rooted in the Church's tradition of martyrdom advocacy, invokes the intercession of Mary, "Help of Christians," and references his completion of Pope Francis's unfinished exhortation Dilexi Te on aiding the poor. Vatican officials note that the address aligns with Leo's broader agenda, including planned visits to persecuted regions. As global leaders convene at the UN General Assembly later this month, the Pope's words challenge the international community to transcend rhetoric: "Persecution does not only happen through mistreatment and weapons, but also with words—through lies and ideological manipulation."
In Nigeria, Christian leaders like Pastor John Joseph Hayab of CAN's northern branch hailed the Pope's solidarity, stating, "His voice amplifies our cries for justice." With U.S. congressional hearings slated for December and EU Parliament questions on DRC violence pending, 2025's end may mark a turning point—or deepening divide—in the fight for religious liberty. As displaced families in Benue huddle in makeshift camps and Kivu survivors bury their dead, the pontiff's prayer for "peace among all His children" remains a beacon amid the shadows.
