President Muhammadu Buhari has urged Catholic Bishops to continue to speak truth to power, just as he tasked them to extend their message of change to terrorists in the country.

The President said some of the assailants were propagating genuine causes but with mindless brutality.

Buhari said this at the opening session of the 4th Plenary Assembly of the Reunion of Episcopal Conferences of West Africa (RECOWA) held in Abuja on Tuesday.

Buhari, who was represented by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, noted that the West Africa region is passing through a season of considerable political, economic and social turmoil, but urged the Bishops to play active roles in building brotherhood and sustainable peace.

He said: “Indeed, the Catholic Church and the Bishops conference have established a reputation for speaking truth to power in consonance with the highest prophetic traditions and by continuing its illustrious practice of inspiring social action by the lay faithful.

“Over the years, the church has modeled profound approaches in challenging the impunity of some state actors and errant power.

“But my Lords, I believe the times also call for speaking to the growing numbers of violent non-state actors, some propagating genuine causes but with mindless violence often leading to the  destruction of lives and property.

“I urge you to not only explore ways of strengthening the bonds of faith between your communities, but also of building bridges across every divide that threatens to fracture our nations.”

Speaking on the theme of this year’s summit, ‘Fratelli Tutti: Path to Build Brotherhood and Sustainable Peace in West Africa’, the President said peace cannot reign in the region if it does not first reign in individual communities and countries.

He noted that the Federal Government was committed to collaborating with the church and all well-meaning actors in promoting peace and security.

“Our goals of unity and integration have always been thwarted not just by concerns of individual sovereignty of our nations but also by internal crisis and social conflicts in our nations and around the borders.

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“Since 2017, there have been 12 military coups in Africa and half of them have occurred since 2020. Historically, in times like these, parochial prejudices are heightened and the fabric of cohesion becomes frayed as people retreat into ethnic, religious and other nativist camps. In all of these, the ideal of an integrated peaceful and prosperous subregion seems almost impossible.

“It is my hope that you will conceptualize ways of bringing the full weight of the immense moral authority that you possess upon our nations and in the sub-region as a whole. It is evident that we cannot create fraternity and harmony in West Africa without our faith communities,” President Buhari added.

Delivering his address, the President of RECOWA, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, tasked political leaders to work harder to deliver good governance to the people.

He maintained that Catholic Bishops in the region, without becoming politically partisan, would continue to ring out their prophetic voices on behalf of the voiceless multitude suffering.

In his remarks, the President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Most Revd. Lucius Ugorji, said the international community must work together to develop new strategies to tackle global problems.

Ugorji said: “Global problems demand global response and action in the spirit of co-responsibility, cooperation and collaboration.

“Thus in the face of myriads of problems bedevilling our countries today, such as poor governance, human rights abuse, poverty, unemployment, ethnocentrism, terrorism and organised crimes, human trafficking, organ trafficking, illegal arms trafficking, international debt burden, drug abuse, migration and the like, we must guide against the ‘culture of walls’ or ‘culture of indifference’.

“These socio-political and socio-cultural problems threaten peace and impede development in our different countries. They demand that we come together in solidarity as a human family to address them,” the CBCN President stated.

The Star