recently<\/a> as last month, gunmen from the terror group stormed a primary and secondary school in Mussa, abducting 40 children and killing eight others in an assault on a nearby Christian community.<\/p>\nThe majority of communities around Chibok are Christians, with Boko Haram and ISWAP having been waging attacks on them to either force them to Islamise or force them out of their ancestral lands since 2011, according to Genocide Watch.<\/p>\n
Bishop Doeme has become a well-known voice worldwide for his spiritual and political resistance against the extremist group.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the day I agreed to be bishop, I knew I was signing my death sentence. Despite all this, we do not give up our public witness to our faith,\u201d said the Nigerian Bishop speaking prior to his visit to Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bishop Doeme made global headlines for sharing a vision he received in his chapel in 2015, claiming that Jesus extended a sword to him that turned into a rosary. <\/p>\n
He interpreted it as a divine sign to combat the terrorists through prayer as opposed to violence.<\/p>\n
The Bishop has spoken widely about experiencing the \u201cvision of Christ\u201d while in prayer.<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus Christ appeared holding a sword, which He offered to me,\u2019 he said. \u201cThe moment I took the sword from Jesus\u2019 hands, it transformed into Rosary beads. I didn\u2019t need any prophet to explain it to me. It was clear that with the Rosary we would be able to expel Boko Haram,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
After the experience, the Bishop mobilised a widespread prayer initiative across Nigerian schools, families, and parishes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the chief organisers of the 41st annual All-Ireland Rosary Rally, Cork priest, Fr Marius O\u2019Reilly, said: \u201cBishop Doeme is coming to Ireland to share his testimony of survival, peace-building, and the inspiring story of the resilience of the Nigerian people in the face of radical extremism.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Bishop Doeme, the faith of the Nigerian people is \u201cunshakeable\u201d despite hardships.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have more Catholics now than before the Boko Haram crisis. For our people, their faith has sustained and fortified them. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the crisis started, between 2009 and 2014, our community came under repeated and sustained attacks that led to massive displacement of people who were traumatised and terrorised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Bishop Doeme has attributed the containment and gradual fracturing of the terrorist group in his region to a deep, collective reliance on prayer across his diocese.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen our church is persecuted, our people become alive, their faith grows stronger and more active. <\/p>\n
\u201cMore than 200 churches were destroyed, and 10 parishes were decimated by Boko Haram. But whatever happened, we continued to go out to villages and rural areas to give them the sacraments. The situation has only served to strengthen the faith of our people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than 90,000 Catholics were displaced, and more than 1,000 Catholics were killed. Of 279 people, including children, who were kidnapped, 100 have not come back. The Boko Haram army forcibly conscripted young men; many never returned.\u201d<\/p>\n
He emphasised that the humanitarian crisis crossed all boundaries, causing immense suffering for people of all faiths, including moderate Muslims who reject the group\u2019s extremist ideology.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rosary Rally organiser Fr Marius O\u2019Reilly told Gript: \u201cWe are honoured to have Bishop Doeme with us, where his powerful personal witness is a huge example of faith and hope which we are sure will resonate and inspire the Rosary Rally pilgrims. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe message is so relevant in the modern world, where people are seeking stability, peace, and cross-community solidarity in these turbulent times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year we will continue to pray for peace in the world in these troubled times. We will join in prayer for a renewal of the Catholic faith in Ireland; and for the people of Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe are inspired, uplifted and encouraged by Pope Leo\u2019s courageous and powerful message of peace. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo we will be echoing his call and praying to Our Lady for her intercession for Ireland, for our families and for peace. The Irish people\u2019s devotion to the Rosary goes back generations to our most difficult times.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An African Catholic Bishop who survived the terror group Boko Haram is to visit Ireland this month. Bishop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[207132,207133,12786,61,60,17648,103395,43,21913],"class_list":["post-480748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-bishop-oliver-dashe-doeme","tag-boko-haram","tag-christianity","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-islam","tag-knock","tag-news","tag-nigeria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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