Fr John Gbakaan Nigerian priest abducted for ransom found dead
The body of Fr John Gbakaan, a Catholic parish priest in Nigeria, was found dead with machete wounds on January 16, a day after armed men kidnapped him and demanded ransom.
Fr Gbakaan, the parish priest of the Saint Anthony Church in Gulu in Minna diocese, was kidnapped while traveling through Niger state, reported Vatican’s news service Agenzia Fides.
Fr Gbakaan, with his brother and another priest, left for Makurdi in Benue state on January 14 to visit his mother, the agency said.
The two brothers were abducted by armed men who sought ransom from the Diocese of Minna. Initially, the kidnappers demanded 30 million Naira, which was later reduced to five million Naira.
Cardinal named head of Christian research centre in Pakistan
Cardinal Joseph Coutts, the archbishop of Karachi, has been appointed as the chairperson of a key Christian research and study centre.
He is taking charge of the Christian Study Centre in Rawalpindi, said Fr Nasir William, director of the Diocesan Commission for Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
“It’s a big responsibility but since this prelate of the Catholic Church is well known for his experience and personal interest in the interfaith and ecumenical field, I would say he is the right man for the right place,” Fr William told UCA News.
Founded in 1967, the Christian Study Centre aims to work for peaceful coexistence, cooperation, better understanding and strong bonding between the Christian and Muslim communities and with people of other faiths. It is supported by both the Catholic and Protestant churches.
Indonesian Catholics hold Mass for plane crash victims
Catholics in Indonesia’s Ketapang Diocese have held a requiem Mass for a Catholic couple who died in a recent air disaster after authorities successfully retrieved their bodies and identified them.
Vincentius Iuskandar, 52, and Melania Nelly, 49, were identified on January 16 and 17 respectively.
They were among 62 passengers and crew on Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ182 heading from Jakarta which crashed shortly after take-off on January 9.
Held at St Gemma Galgani Ketapang Cathedral Church on January 20, the Mass concelebrated by three priests and attended by the families of the victims was broadcast on YouTube.
Passionist Fr Damianus Sepo, one of the priests, said he knew the victims very well and they were “good people who were always full of enthusiasm, always entertaining and caring”.
Patriarch reaffirms baptismal site in Jordan
Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s recognition of the official Baptism site of Jesus in Jordan and said a new chapel on the opposite side of the river is purely touristic, not historic.
“It is clear from the historical, archaeological, and indeed all the points of view that the actual site of Jesus Christ’s Baptism (in the Jordan River) is on the Jordanian side. Traditionally, historically and according to the Bible, it is on this side,” Archbishop Pizzaballa told Catholic News Service in an interview at the Latin Patriarchal Vicarate in the Jordanian capital. He also spoke of the Church’s continued work with Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Jordan during the Covid-19 pandemic.