Archdiocese of Niamey

Christmas 2018 Celebration Under the Sign of Peace and Changed Behavior. Like the rest of the world, Christians in Niger celebrated the feast of the Nativity, or Christmas, yesterday. More than a thousand faithful gathered around Archbishop Msgr. Laurent LOMPO at the Cathedral of Niamey, where he delivered a message of peace. The event was attended by the Minister of State, Minister of the Interior ….. Mr. Bazoum Mohamed, accompanied by his aides, representatives of the Muslim community, and members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Niger. In his Christmas Eve message from the Vatican, Pope Francis stressed that “Man has become greedy and voracious. Having and accumulating things seems, for many people, to be the meaning of life.” He noted that “an insatiable voracity runs through human history, down to today’s paradoxes; thus some feast at banquets while many others have no bread to live on.” According to the Pope, we must rise above the height of selfishness and must not slide into the ravines of worldliness and consumerism. In the same vein, the Archbishop of Niamey, Msgr. Laurent LOMPO, noted that God comes among us in the form of a small child. “He does not demand of us a change of status — that a politician become a religious leader, that a man become a woman, that a farmer become a senior administrator, that Africa become Europe, that Christianity become Islam, and so on. But on this Christmas night, he does demand of us a change in behavior,” said Msgr. Laurent LOMPO. He stressed that we are, more than ever, called to leave behind our old world — where darkness keeps us from seeing the suffering around us; where pride closes our hearts to recognizing our own weaknesses and faults; where the power we hold is used to crush the weakest; where hatred drives us to violence; where a lack of love makes us selfish, often unable to share even our surplus with the poor who beg at our doors. The Archbishop of Niamey added that we celebrate Christmas in a climate of joy on one hand, and, on the other, amid difficulties that we all know well. “We have been blessed with a more satisfying rainy season than in past years. In several regions of our country, harvests — both food crops and fodder — were abundant. There is firm resolve, at the political, religious, and traditional levels alike, to seek peace through intra- and inter-religious dialogue. There is an effort to beautify our cities, as in other countries of the sub-region. There is firm resolve for dialogue within the political class for the general interest of the country,” he stressed. But alongside these joys, he continued, we face enormous difficulties that disrupt our lives at the social, religious, political, and economic levels. “We think of religious radicalism coming from all sides, which nowadays slows fraternity among us, drives us to violence, and prevents frank dialogue in our relationships. Widespread insecurity: several of our regions have been declared ‘red zones,’ meaning areas where the enemy can, from one day to the next, abduct individuals (we think of Father Pier Luigi and so many others held captive), massacre populations, and attack the country’s security posts. This scourge plunges us into fear and slows our momentum to work for a population that is growing ever poorer. A youth losing its cultural values and weighed down by unemployment. It is often tempted toward discouragement, as prospects seem to be closing on the horizon. A political class that needs to respect itself, respect each other’s convictions, engage in frank dialogue, and work for the general interest of the Nigerien people,” said the Archbishop of Niamey. For his part, the Minister of State, Mr. Bazoum Mohamed, came to bear witness to the government’s determination to work for a Niger devoted to peace and tolerance. “To the minorities among you here in Niger, you are no less full citizens,” said the Minister of State, before adding that “we share the same points of reference and the same values [Editor’s note: Christians and Muslims].” The minister then expressed his feelings toward Father Pier Luigi, abducted, in his words, by people “who do not share our common values.” He then had a thought for the families of all those who fell victim to “this deadly frenzy carried out by men who claim to act in God’s name, yet who are, in truth, very far from it.” Abandé Moctar