EWTN News reports that Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo, Nigeria, has appealed for prayers for the safe release of teachers, students, and children abducted during an armed attack on schools in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, on May 15, 2026. The bishop described the incident as “deeply saddening” and urged Catholics to include the victims in every Mass and prayer gathering. This appeal follows a brutal assault where armed men invaded multiple schools during class hours, shot a teacher, and abducted a principal, Rachael Alamu, along with an unspecified number of students. Tragically, a viral video later surfaced allegedly showing one of the abducted teachers, Michael Oyedokun, being beheaded by the kidnappers. Governor Seyi Makinde confirmed the abduction of seven students from Community Secondary School, 18 children, and seven teachers from First Baptist Primary and Nursery School, with one teacher killed. While the bishop calls for prayer and urges political leaders to act, the systemic failure to protect the faithful and the absence of any theological depth in his response reveal the profound spiritual and pastoral crisis within the post-conciliar structures, which are incapable of addressing the root causes of such violence or offering truly efficacious supernatural remedies.
The Illusory Comfort of “Prayer” Without Supernatural Foundation
Bishop Badejo’s appeal, while seemingly pious, epitomizes the superficiality of post-conciliar pastoral care. His statement, “Dear brothers and sisters, prayer is the greatest power we possess. Let us use it to the fullest. May the merciful God hear our cry, answer us with his mercy, and favor our land with lasting peace. Kyrie Eleison. Amen,” is a generic invocation devoid of the specific, doctrinally rich, and efficacious prayers that characterized the Church’s response to persecution in centuries past. When the Church faced existential threats, her leaders did not merely ask for “prayers” in a vacuum; they prescribed expiatory prayers, acts of reparation, fasting, and penance, understanding that divine intervention is often contingent upon the spiritual disposition of the faithful and their leaders. The bishop’s call is a mere platitude, an emotional band-aid on a gaping spiritual wound.
Historically, when Christendom was under threat, Popes and Bishops would call for public processions, the recitation of the Rosary with specific intentions, the Forty Hours’ Devotion, and even the excommunication of perpetrators. Consider Pope St. Pius V’s call to prayer before the Battle of Lepanto, which resulted in a miraculous victory. His approach was not merely “praying for peace” but engaging in a spiritual battle with the full arsenal of the Church’s sacramentals and intercessory power. The Catechism of the Council of Trent explicitly teaches that prayer must be “fervent” and “persevering,” accompanied by a life of virtue and detachment from sin, to be truly efficacious. Bishop Badejo’s appeal lacks this depth, reducing the supernatural power of prayer to a sentimental gesture, reflecting the modernist tendency to internalize and subjectivize faith, stripping it of its objective, communal, and expiatory dimensions.
The Omission of Spiritual Warfare and the Reality of Jihad
Perhaps the most glaring omission in Bishop Badejo’s statement is any explicit acknowledgment of the spiritual dimension of the violence, particularly the reality of Islamic jihad. While the article mentions “armed men” and “kidnappers,” the bishop fails to name the ideological or religious motivation behind such attacks, which are frequently perpetrated by Islamist groups like Boko Haram or Fulani militias targeting Christians. This silence is not accidental; it is a direct consequence of the post-conciliar Church’s embrace of false ecumenism and religious indifferentism, condemned by Pope Pius XI in Mortalium Animos (1928). The Council’s declaration Nostra Aetate (1965) fundamentally altered the Church’s approach to non-Christian religions, fostering a climate where naming the enemy or acknowledging the inherent incompatibility of certain ideologies with the Catholic faith is deemed “divisive” or “uncharitable.”
A true shepherd, guided by the unchanging Magisterium, would unequivocally identify the spiritual battle at hand. Pope Leo XIII in Immortale Dei (1885) taught that the state must profess the Catholic faith and that any government acting against the laws of God is acting illegitimately. He further warned against the dangers of religious indifferentism, stating, “The best parent of all is the Catholic Church, who… teaches that… the worship of God is necessary, and that whoever refuses to render it is guilty of a grave crime.” Bishop Badejo’s failure to name the enemy or to call for a robust spiritual offensive, including the explicit condemnation of Islamic terrorism as a heresy and a crime against God’s law, leaves his flock disarmed and confused. He offers “prayer” without context, “peace” without justice, and “hope” without the theological clarity necessary for true spiritual combat.
The Bankruptcy of Appealing to Secular Authorities
Bishop Badejo’s call to “pray earnestly for our government, that God may grant our leaders the wisdom, insight, and courage needed to act swiftly and decisively in the protection of our people” further illustrates the post-church’s reliance on secular solutions for spiritual and moral problems. While it is a civic duty to pray for those in authority, the bishop’s statement implicitly places the primary burden of protection on the Nigerian state, a state that has demonstrably failed to protect its Christian citizens. This reliance on secular power is a direct contradiction of the Church’s historical understanding of her own sovereignty and the limits of secular authority.
Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Quas Primas (1925), unequivocally declared: “The Kingdom of our Redeemer encompasses all men… He is indeed the source of salvation for individuals and for the whole… The state is happy not by one means, and man by another; for the state is nothing else than a harmonious association of men.” He further stated that rulers and governments have the duty to publicly honor Christ and obey Him, reminding them of the final judgment where Christ will avenge insults to His royal dignity. Bishop Badejo’s appeal to Governor Makinde, while understandable in a temporal sense, lacks the prophetic voice that would demand the Nigerian state recognize the social Kingship of Christ and implement policies consistent with Catholic moral law. Instead, it reinforces the modernist separation of Church and State, where the Church merely “influences” rather than “directs” the temporal order.
The Absence of Expiation and Reparation
The bishop’s statement is entirely devoid of any call for expiation or reparation for the sins that have brought about such calamities. Catholic theology teaches that suffering, including persecution, can be a consequence of sin, both personal and collective. The Prophet Jeremiah lamented, “Our sins testify against us, O Lord… for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you” (Jeremiah 14:7). A true pastoral response would include a call to the faithful to examine their consciences, to repent of their sins, and to offer acts of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, acknowledging that only through such humility and conversion can divine mercy be appeased.
Pope St. Pius X, in E Supremi Apostolatus (1903), his first encyclical, unequivocally stated that the cause of the world’s evils was “the rejection of the Christian law” and called for a restoration of all things in Christ. He emphasized the necessity of penance and conversion. Bishop Badejo’s appeal, by focusing solely on the immediate crisis and offering only generic prayers, fails to address the deeper spiritual malaise. It treats the symptoms while ignoring the disease, reflecting the post-conciliar aversion to the language of sin, judgment, and expiation, which has been replaced by a therapeutic, horizontal approach to suffering.
The Failure to Invoke the Church’s Full Spiritual Arsenal
Beyond mere “prayer,” a true Catholic bishop would mobilize the full spiritual arsenal of the Church. This would include:
1. **Public Exorcisms:** To confront the demonic forces at work in such acts of terror. The Roman Ritual contains specific prayers for the exorcism of places and against the powers of darkness.
2. **Indulgences:** Granting specific indulgences for the faithful who engage in acts of penance and prayer for the victims, thereby applying the merits of Christ and the Saints to alleviate the temporal punishment due to sin.
3. **Sacramentals:** Encouraging the use of blessed medals, scapulars, holy water, and the sign of the cross as tangible expressions of faith and protection.
4. **Penitential Practices:** Prescribing specific fasts, abstinences, and acts of mortification as a collective expression of sorrow for sin and a plea for divine mercy.
5. **Consecration:** Renewing the consecration of the diocese and the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, recognizing that true peace and protection flow from these sources.
Bishop Badejo’s statement, by limiting itself to a generic appeal for “prayer,” reveals a profound impoverishment of pastoral leadership. It suggests a lack of faith in the Church’s own supernatural means or a deliberate omission driven by modernist theological presuppositions that downplay the efficacy of sacramentals and expiatory works. This is symptomatic of the “abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24:15) that has overtook the post-conciliar structures, where the supernatural has been replaced by the natural, and the Church’s spiritual power has been reduced to mere human sentiment.
Conclusion: A Call for Authentic Catholic Leadership
The abduction and murder of Christians in Nigeria are horrific crimes that demand a robust, unequivocally Catholic response. Bishop Badejo’s appeal, while well-intentioned in a human sense, falls catastrophically short of what is required. It is a reflection of the systemic spiritual bankruptcy of the post-conciliar Church, an institution that has traded its supernatural armor for the tattered garments of secular humanism and false ecumenism. The faithful in Nigeria, and indeed everywhere, deserve shepherds who will name the enemy, who will call for true conversion and expiation, who will mobilize the full spiritual arsenal of the Church, and who will unequivocally demand the social Kingship of Christ over all nations. Anything less is a dereliction of duty and a betrayal of the flock entrusted to their care.
Source:
Nigerian bishop appeals for prayers for 'safe release' of abducted teachers, students, children (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 21.05.2026