Letter of Solidarity with Church in Nigeria After Abductions from St. Mary's School, November 25, 2025

November 25, 2025

Most Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna
Bishop of Kontagora
P.O. Box 178
Niger State, Nigeria

Your Excellency,

On behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, I would like to express our solidarity with Your Excellency, the faithful of your diocese, and the whole Church in Nigeria, as you work and pray for the return of hundreds of children and their teachers, abducted from St. Mary’s School in Niger State, on November 21st. We sorrow at the suffering of these innocent young people, their families, and their Catholic school community, and pray fervently for their safety and freedom.

As the Church prepares to enter into the Holy season of Advent, a period of waiting before the celebration of Christ’s birth, we know that this season will also be characterized by a different kind of waiting for those who await news of their loved ones. This Advent, we offer our prayers for our Nigerian brothers and sisters, in Niger state and elsewhere, who have been violently separated from their loved ones, and who await their return. Together, we pray for peace, security, and solidarity among all Nigerians, and for the particular care and protection of the nation’s young people.

Let us all join in our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV’s prayers “for these brothers and sisters of ours, that churches and schools may always and everywhere remain places of safety and hope.”

Sincerely yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend A. Elias Zaidan
Bishop of Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon
Chairman, Committee on International Justice and Peace