Pope’s Omission of Nigeria in Africa Tour Draws Reaction from Intersociety

The International Society for Civil Rights and Rule of Law, also known as Intersociety, has spoken out against Nigeria not being included in Pope Leo’s visit to some African countries.

The organization called the development a major mistake.

In a statement, Intersociety said they were sad that the visit did not include the “Super Catholic/Christian States: Congo DRC, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya.”

Emeka Umeagbalasi, Head of Intersociety; Chidinma Evangeline Udegbunam, Head of the Dept. of Campaign and Publicity; Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Head of the Dept. of Civil Liberties and Rule of Law; and Engr. Ekene Bede Umeagu, Head of the Dept. of Int’l Freedom of Religion and Worship all signed the statement.

It said that the development brings to light other important missing points and reforms, such as “demanding the appointment of four Cardinal-Electors for Uganda and Kenya (two each), two each for Cameroon, Angola, and Tanzania; and three each for Congo DRC and Nigeria to encourage, strengthen, and save Africa’s largest but severely threatened Catholicism and Christianity.”

The rights group said they hoped that Pope Leo’s call for world peace would not mean “peace of the Christian graveyard, Jews, and other peaceful religions and religious minorities, especially in the hands of global Islamic Jihadists who have vowed to keep targeting Christians and Jews until they convert or are hacked to death.”

It stressed that “more concrete reforms are very strongly and urgently needed to strategically and strongly reposition the Mother Church as the common umbrella and ‘General Overseer of the global Christendom.'”

“Charity Must Begin at Home Reforms” are some of the changes that need to be made. For example, Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, should either sit up or resign, just like Archbishop Claudio Dalla Zuanna of the Mozambique’s Archdiocese of Beira did on April 10, 2026, and Archbishop Pascalis Bruno Sukur did when he turned down an early 2026 appointment by Pope Leo XIV as a cardinal and chose to stay as Bishop of Bogor in Indonesia.

“Exclusion of Africa’s Five Super Catholic States from the Pope’s First Visit: We have noticed a major flaw in the Holy Father’s African visit, which only included Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea. It did not include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya, which have a combined Catholic population of 141 million, as well as Ethiopia, Africa’s third largest Christian state with 77 million.

“Only Angola has a large Catholic population of about 10 million, compared to Cameroon with 9 million Catholics and Equatorial Guinea with 1.4 million Catholics.

“Our careful study of the current patterns and trends of genocidal attacks by Islamic jihadists against Christians in Africa has clearly indicated that except Cameroon, Catholics and general Christian population face less jihadist threats and attacks in Angola and Equatorial Guinea than the five major Catholic countries of Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya and allied others like Ethiopia.

According to available records, Algeria has about 100,000 Christians, but only 4,200 of them are Catholics, and there is a Cardinal there. Algeria is the largest country in Africa by land area, covering 2.382 million square kilometers.

The only thing that makes Algeria feel better about the papal visit is that it is the birthplace of the Biblical Saint Augustine.

“We don’t hold any grudges against the four African countries that were chosen, but the Pope should have visited the five African countries that are most threatened and attacked.

The five African Super Catholic States that were affected were Congo DRC (with an estimated 55 million Catholics and 115 million Christians), Nigeria (with 30 million to 35 million Catholics and 113 million Christians), Tanzania (with 19 million Catholics and 31 million Christians), Uganda (with 18 million Catholics and 30 million Christians), and Kenya (with 18 million Catholics and 40 million Christians). In total, there were 141 million Catholics and 329 million Christians. Ethiopia, which is also one of Africa’s oldest Christian countries, had an estimated 77 million Christians.

In fact, these six African countries should have been scheduled as “First Among Equals” on Pope Leo XIV’s first visit to Africa. This is especially true because the Holy Father’s visit is very important and urgent to encourage and strengthen the Christian faith in dangerous places like Nigeria, Congo DRC, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. If extreme care is not taken, their large Catholic and other Christian populations will be wiped out by local and ISIS and ISIL-linked Islamic jihadists in the next 50 to 100 years, and their future generations will not have any traces of Christianity or Christian names linked to their lineages.

“Another important thing that was missing was the unfair appointment of Catholic Cardinals in Africa, especially in countries with a lot of Catholics. These countries have been having trouble because they don’t have enough “Cardinal-Electors,” or people under 80 who can vote during papal conclaves and other cardinal decisions.

We are asking for two new Cardinal-Electors to be chosen for Nigeria, specifically from the North-East of the country, especially from Catholic Dioceses in Taraba State and Benue State.

Based on what we’ve learned recently, there are very brave and bold Catholic Bishops in the area who have stood up to the attacks of the Jihadist Fulani and their allies, the Boko Haram and Fulani Bandits. These attacks have killed thousands of Catholics and destroyed hundreds of churches since 2015.

In March 2025, Bishop Anagbe was targeted for speaking out against the United States, and Fulani Jihadists burned down his village and killed dozens of his family members. More than 90,000 Catholics have had to leave their homes, and hundreds have been killed. Dozens of church parishes have been destroyed or robbed in Wukari Diocese from 2024 to April 2026, and the same is true in Makurdi Diocese, where hundreds have been killed and dozens of parishes have been destroyed or robbed.

There are 60 Catholic dioceses in Nigeria, 59 of which are full-fledged and one is a suffragan in Ibadan, Oyo State. Of these, 27 are currently dying and 17 are very close to being empty.