Catholic bishop who was criticised for building mosque for Muslims gives explanation

Rev. Fr. Stephen Mamza, the bishop of Yola Catholic Diocese in Nigeria suffered a lot of backlash from some Christians who have held the view that the gesture was unbecoming of no less a Christian than someone of his caliber who should 'know better'.

The man of God has disclosed that he faced opposition but he remained adamant when he revealed his intention to build a mosque for the Muslims who were part of Internally Displaced Persons within the Diocese's catchment area in the capital of Adamawa state.

“It is not something that is commonly done; it is not something that we have heard of being done, especially in our country, Nigeria, where everybody is conscious about their own religion,” Legit.ng quoted Rev. Fr. Stephen Mamza as having said.

He told The Punch that they did not discriminate against anyone when he and other members of the church played host to the Internally Displaced Persons, so if they were extending further help to the victims, it was only fair and just that they attended to all of them without discrimination based on religion.

It is reported that when Rev. Fr. Stephen Mamza and the Catholic Diocese of Yola were attending to the IDPs, they treated them as human beings who needed help and did not ask about the religion they belong to or their church denomination.

The cleric maintained that the majority of the IDPs who thronged to their camp were Christians but noted that there was also a large number of Muslims among them.

“There are about 10 to 12 Muslim families in the camp. I just felt that since we didn’t leave out the Muslims while providing food for the Christians or leave the Muslims out while building houses for the Christians, it is only just that we also build a mosque for the Muslims as we built a church for Christians,” the man of God added.

Catholic bishop who was criticised for building mosque for Muslims gives explanation

Rev. Fr. Stephen Mamza, the bishop of Yola Catholic Diocese in Nigeria suffered a lot of backlash from some Christians who have held the view that the gesture was unbecoming of no less a Christian than someone of his caliber who should 'know better'.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Recommended articles