If you are a priest in Nigeria, you stand a good chance of being kidnapped or martyred.
"Our nation may collapse if the current situation lingers." That was the assessment of the Catholic bishops of Nigeria after meeting this September. Nigeria gets the attention of media in the United States now and again -- typically when something horrific happens. Currently, on the right, there is a "silence is deafening" moment going on about the persecution of Christians there.
That said, if you talk with Nigerians, they tend not to want our pity and are skeptical of what good will come from more American government attention. The way out of the road to collapse for Nigeria is in the things we all need: strong families, real faith, opportunity and the kind of hope that is rooted in the eternal.
"Hope Does Not Disappoint: Working Together for a Just Nation," a document issued by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, should be required reading for anyone looking for more insight into what is going on in that country. It also contains some serious reminders for the West about how to keep a culture from destruction, and what the world needs and expects from us. It makes a plea for renewal on every front.
What's happening in Nigeria involves more than just hatred of Christians. There are tribal wars. There is widespread corruption. There is also -- and this is something that is necessarily a priority of the bishops -- a dabbling in the occult, a lot of which has to do with abysmal education. A few years ago, after returning from Nigeria on a fact-finding mission of sorts, a friend who works with some of the dioceses there told me that they were looking for some modest financial support for basic Catholic instruction.
"We believe that the Lay Faithful have a major and decisive role to play in politics," the bishops write. And is this ever applicable throughout the world. The bishops point to the importance of healthy family life and leadership "in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres of our life" as well. "They infuse these areas with the values of the Gospel, fostering the common good, working for social justice and promoting human rights," the bishops say. "We encourage honest, qualified and God-fearing Lay Faithful to join political parties and persuade those with the talent for leadership to seek political office and be voted for as a way of advancing the common good in accordance with the social teaching of the Church." Again, this is a message for all humanity.
Further, for us all, they write: "Hope is one of the cardinal virtues of the Christian faith. It is not naive optimism or wishful thinking. Hope is a confident expectation in the promises of God grounded in His character and faithfulness." This is not mere positivity. "It is anchored in the certainty that God fulfils what He promises." The African bishops urge perseverance in hope "and work towards justice in our nation in spite of our sufferings and afflictions." Rather than feel better about occasionally pitying the Christians and other vulnerable people in Nigeria, perhaps we can learn from them and be more like them. They don't have the same luxury of distraction that we do. Don't wait until it's too late to set our paths here straight, rooted in authentic faith, hope and love. Don't wait for moral or societal collapse.
(Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review magazine and author of the new book "A Year With the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living." She is also chair of Cardinal Dolan's pro-life commission in New York, and is on the board of the University of Mary. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.)
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