The Archbishop of Lagos called Nigerian Catholics on Saturday to love those who hate them amid escalating religious and ethnic violence in the country, a burgeoning secessionist movement, and ongoing kidnappings by terrorist groups.

The archbishop also called the country’s government to ensure equity and justice for Nigerians:

St Paul says the proof that God loved us first is that he died for us while we were still sinners, unworthy of his love. — Romans 25:8

We are therefore called to love in this way, love the most unworthy ones because that is how we have been loved by God. 

Dear brothers and sisters, it is natural that we love only our friends, and those who love us. And so it is extremely difficult for us to love those who hate us so much as to want to harm us and do evil against us.

This is the sort of scenario that we are experiencing in our country today.

That so much mutual suspicion, ethnic and religious, and sadly it is gradually degenerating into hatred and loathing of one another. This is made worse by the perception that government —  that has the responsibility of ensuring equity and justice, the two values that assure peace and mutual love — is perceived as not doing its duty, or even worse, as promoting the activities that lead to mutual suspicion. 

It takes supernatural grace to love those who hate us. 

That grace can be helped if government, led by the president of the Federal Republic, the National Assembly, and the governors of the states, do their duties, and restore confidence in people that they mean well, in equal measure, for all the peoples…

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