SAN FRANCISCO, May 05, (THEWILL) – The Catholic Arch Bishop of Maiduguri Diocese, Oliver Doeme Dashe, has praised the Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, over the rebuilding of churches destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents in the diocese.
The Bishop who spoke at the three days convention of Catholic Women Organization (Zumun ta Mata) of Maiduguri Diocese, holding in Damaturu, said credit should be given to Shettima for his commitment to the Christian community, especially the Catholic church towards the rebuilding process in Borno State.
Dashe, who controls the largest Catholic Diocese in the country – which cuts across the three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe which incidentally are the worse hit by Boko Haram –also called on other northern governors, affected in the crisis, to emulate Shettima by assisting Christians to rebuild their churches.
He disclosed that the churches built by Shettima include: Saint Augustine Catholic Church Mufa and Our Lady of Consolation otherwise called Saint John’s Evangelists Mushara, all in Askira Local Government Area of Borno State adding that the diocese has embarked on the physical and spiritual rebuilding of the church, hoping that the Christian community in the Maiduguri will come out stronger.
“Government has not given us anything yet in the rebuilding process except the Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima who has rebuilt our two churches and we have to acknowledge and give him the credit for that and we pray he will continue to do that and I call on other governors in the affected states to emulate him,” he said.
“I also commend the laity for their various physical contributions so that we will continue to rebuild our churches as you can see in Potiskum, Damaturu, Maiduguri and many other churches destroyed by the insurgents.
“As far as the Boko Haram crisis is concern, Maiduguri Diocese is the worse hit structurally and spiritually as the faith of our people has been affected but the good news is we have begun the rebuilding process which is in two dimensions. That is the structural rebuilding and the spiritual dimension.
“The structural rebuilding is the springing up of churches which you can see going on speedily across the diocese in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, while the spiritual is the rebuilding and re-enforcement of confidence in our followers which I am here in Damaturu to psyche our mothers who are on a three day convention here.
He added that despite the Boko Haram insurgency, the church has continue to grow from strength to strength and the diocese he said would be celebrating its 50th anniversary. He attributed the successes recorded so far to the resilience of the laity and called on them to continue to work towards the development of the catholic faith in the diocese.
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