Province V Acts to Aid Nigeria
Episcopal News Service. May 7, 1987 [87103]
RACINE, Wis. (DPS, May 7) -- Parishes in the 14 dioceses of in Province V will take a special offering to send emergency aid to the dioceses of their companion province of the Anglican Church in Nigeria.
In recent months, more than 100 churches and a seminary have been burned to the ground or seriously damaged in religious riots between Muslims and Christians in northern Nigeria.
The request for a special offering was made by the delegates of Province V, meeting here April 27-28, after the synod received a letter from Nigerian Archbishop T. O. Olufosoye appealing to all Christians in the companion dioceses and province to "pray for us" during the turmoil. But, for the first time during the ten-year companion relationship, he also appealed for immediate cash relief for rehabilitation, food, clothing and hospital charges. Province V and the Province of Nigeria are the only provinces in the Anglican Communion which have a province-to-province companion relationship.
"It is with sad heart that I report the religious disturbance in Nigeria...where many Christians were killed and many injured," the archbishop wrote to Bishop Edward Jones of Indianapolis, president of the province. "Our only theological college in the north, St. Francis of Assisi, has been burnt down and the students have fled. The expatriate vice principal has gone back to his homeland. Our automobiles have been set on fire. Some of our expatriate missionaries have gone back to their countries and the Christians of southern Nigerian origin have returned to the south.
"We now worship under the shade of trees in some places and the rain is coming. Our fear is in the problem of restoration of the churches burnt down; we may not be allowed to rebuild them on their present sites," he said.
Although unrest between the Muslims and Christians is not new, the latest outbreak of violence resulted in the banning of all Christian processions of witness on Palm Sunday and rood Friday and no worship at all in colleges, the archbishop said. The Anglican Church in Nigeria is growing rapidly, according to reports, and the riots and damage are a serious setback.
"Our partners -- the Episcopal Church in the United States, Anglican Church of Canada, The Church of England...and Province V of the U.S.A. -- should kindly come to our aid urgently. Christians are suffering persecution here in Nigeria," he said.
Aid from parishes or dioceses will be directed through the Rev. Canon Samuel Van Culin of the Anglican Consultative Council.