A Nigerian bishop said that over 200 churches have been destroyed in his archdiocese since the beginning of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2009.
“We are surviving today as a diocese by the grace of God,” Auxiliary Bishop John Maiduguri Bakeni of Maiduguri preached on September 16, as he recalled the courage of the martyrs Saints Cornelius and Cyprian.
“Our churches are full at every Mass,” Bishop Bakeni added. “Guns are being shot and bombs are exploding, but Catholics remain in the churches.”