By Kurt Jensen
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON — Bishop Jude Ayodeji Arogundade of Ondo, Nigeria, is resolute in the wake of tragedy.
St. Francis Xavier Church in Ondo, where at least 40 worshippers were slain by terrorists June 5 during Pentecost Mass, will reopen by the fall.
“We’ll resume full activities as it has always been,” Bishop Arogundade told Catholic News Service June 28 in Washington, where he attended the International Religious Freedom Summit.
No arrests have been made in relation to the massacre. Nigeria has only a federal police system; there are no local or state police investigators. Nigerian bishops have criticized government officials for doing nothing to stem the nation’s increasing violence.
Many Nigerians believe ethnic Fulani, who are predominantly Muslim, were responsible for the attack, the first in Nigeria’s Christian-majority South. Fulani extremists have killed Christian farmers in the country’s north and central sections.
Bishop Arogundade said Ondo Gov. Rotimi Akerodolu has been an outspoken opponent of the extremists’ plans to turn Nigeria into a Muslim caliphate, and they have been unable to negotiate with the governor.
“To attack worshippers inside a church is not new,” Bishop Arogundade told CNS. “Nigeria would mean, for them, the expansion of the caliphate.”
The city of Ondo, he said, is “up to 80% Christian.”
Bishop Arogundade said he was about 20 miles from the church when the attack occurred, and he arrived just after the bodies had been removed. He visited the wounded at St. Louis Hospital with Father Andrew Adeniyi Abayomi, assistant parish priest.
The bishop said his faith has not been challenged as a result of the attack.
