Women are pictured in a file photo praying during Mass at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in
Abuja, Nigeria. Photo: OSV News/Afolabi Sotunde, Reuters While many Catholic leaders in Nigeria are concerned about the influence of Pentecostalism, Catholics in the southeastern parts of the country are concerned about another trend.
In rural parts of the West African country, the number of young people participating in Sunday Mass has plummeted and continues to fall as many of them turn to paganism.
Fr Vitalis Anaehobi serves in the region and said that most of the young people he has spoken to are grieved by “difficulties in life” such as poverty, unemployment, and “the failure by the Church to protect them” as attacks against Christians continue in the country where religious-based persecution is one of the highest in the world.
In an interview with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, regarding concerns about the growth of private ministries linking themselves to the Catholic Church in Nigeria, Fr Anaehobi said: “We are not upset by the influence of these ministries. The greatest fear we have, especially in southeast Nigeria where I am based, is the fact that young people are going back to traditional religion”.
He said that the youth in rural villages in Nigeria are not going to Pentecostal churches but to religions that their forefathers abandoned when they embraced Christianity.
“Our youths are going back to paganism,” Fr Anaehobi told ACI Africa. “This emerging trend is nowhere on social media but for us here, this is our greatest worry. Very young boys and girls are going back to these practices.”
Fr Anaehobi, who is the secretary-general of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA), said that at the heart of the worrying trend is the increasing insecurity in the region.
“There is the false belief that in the face of the current insecurity in the region, Christianity cannot protect anyone. [The youth] believe that with traditional religion, they can obtain some way to protect themselves,” he said.
“According to our young people, Christianity is not as practical as traditional religion. When you go to the churches in our villages, you will not find young people there. They are out there practicing traditional religion.”
The priest said that because of poverty and lack of employment, young people there, especially in the rural parts of the country, are avoiding the Church where they are told “to go ahead and give the little they have to get blessings”.
They say that with traditional religion, no one is allowed to give much, Fr Anaehobi shared with ACI Africa, adding that young people embracing African religious practices instead “meet, slaughter animals, perform rituals, dance, and go home with full stomachs”.
At the moment, this trend can only be observed in rural villages.