On May 12, a Nigerian Christian student named Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu was stoned, beaten to death, and her body burnt in Sokoto, Nigeria, by her fellow classmates because of allegations of blasphemy. On May 16, protestors in Borno State, Nigeria, went to police headquarters in Maiduguri demanding the release of Christian woman Naomi Goni so that they could kill her for alleged blasphemy on social media. On May 20, rioters in Bauchi State, Nigeria, set Christian-owned homes and stores on fire based on allegedly blasphemous statements made online by Christian woman Rhoda Jatau.
While violent murders and riots over allegations of blasphemy have occurred sporadically in Northern Nigeria for decades, the recent string of attacks and the high-profile coverage of the murder of Deborah Emmanuel is a troubling indicator of what may become a new normal in Nigeria. The increase in mob violence related to blasphemy accusations resembles the reality in Pakistan, a country infamous for its harsh treatment of alleged blasphemers.
In February of this year, a mentally disabled man, Muhammad Mushtaq, was tortured and lynched after being accused of burning pages from the Quran inside a mosque in Pakistan. Ninety individuals have been killed in mob violence for blasphemy allegations in Pakistan since 1947.
Pakistan sees more mob killings related to blasphemy allegations than any country in the world. Joining them as one of the worst countries for such attacks is Nigeria, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. But while the U.S. sanctions Pakistan as one of the worst violators of religious freedom, Nigeria inexplicably had similar sanctions lifted in Dec. 2021.
Open Doors’ World Watch List tracks the worst places in the world to be a Christian and, often, any other religious minority. Pakistan was ranked the 8th worst country, in large part because of its blasphemy laws and the mob violence they inspire against Christians, Hindus, and others. But edging out Pakistan for the first time this year? Nigeria at 7th place.

A leading British mathematician is predicting the “exponential decline” of the Catholic Church in England and Wales by 2050, as it becomes increasingly woke in its embrace of progressive ideology.
Using epidemiological modeling, which is designed to calculate the number of persons infected with a contagious illness in a closed population over time, Dr. John Hayward computes that with a current “reproduction potential of 0.91,” the Catholic Church in England and Wales “will eventually become extinct.”
Noting that the decline in attendance at Holy Mass is “accelerating,” Hayward predicts that “in the worst-case scenario, the … church will be extinct by 2048.” Indeed, according to the visiting mathematics fellow at the University of South Wales, “The church’s future will likely lie somewhere between linear and exponential decline.”
Hayward argues that the critical factors hastening church extinction are a lack of enthusiasm in making converts and an openness to cultural Marxism, critical race theory, the sexual revolution and the LGBTQ+ agenda.
“To date, no growing church has adopted same-sex ‘marriage,’” Hayward writes, noting that all growing denominations hold firmly to historic Christianity and have statements affirming that marriage is between a man and a woman only.
Moreover, growing churches demonstrate a confidence in the authority of Scripture, which “enables them to stand against progressive ideology and drives their efforts in making disciples,” observes the statistician and founder of the Church Growth Modeling site.

Participants in an annual pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, for U.S. active-duty military personnel and veterans assembled 3,000 prayer kits for Ukrainian soldiers.
The “Warriors to Lourdes” pilgrimage May 10-16 drew more than 175 participants and was co-sponsored by the U.S. Arch-diocese for the Military Services and the Knights of Columbus.
U.S. military personnel visit-ed the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, which is where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. They attended daily Mass and had various opportunities for prayer, formation and fellowship. The prayer kits blessed by Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who heads the U.S. military archdiocese, and were then shipped to Ukraine for distribution to active-duty and injured Ukrainian soldiers.
Each kit included a rosary, an Our Lady of Lourdes prayer card, a vial of Lourdes holy water and a Blessed Michael McGivney prayer card.
McGivney, who was beatified Oct. 31, 2020, was a parish priest in New Haven when he founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882 to serve the needs of a largely immigrant Catholic community.
“What began as a small fraternal benefit society has since grown into one of the world’s leading international charitable organizations, with 2 million members in more than 16,000 local councils,” said a news re-lease about the pilgrimage.
The Knights also sponsored a Ukrainian delegation to be part of the Lourdes pilgrimage through the organization’s United in Charity initiative, offering them an opportunity for prayer and healing during this time of war in their nation.

Peace, justice, climate justice, the war in the Ukraine and its global impact and the ongoing crisis in the German Catholic Church were some of the themes Catholic laity, bishops and politicians and activists discussed during the five-day 102nd Ger-man Katholikentag.
The biannual festival and meeting for German-speaking Catholic laity took place for the first time in four years May 25-29 in Stuttgart. Participants heard from political and church leaders.
Speaking May 27, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is directed against “the values and convictions that unite us as a society.” Putin, he said, “must not be allowed to get away with his cynical, inhuman war.”
Scholz, who had just returned from a three-day trip to Senegal, Niger and South Africa, blamed the Russian president for an impending food crisis that is expected to hit the global south the hardest.
Scholz thanked the churches for their aid to Ukraine and for receiving refugees in Germany. He admitted that the war raises questions that are both political and ethical and that need to be discussed.
“At the heart of the matter is the question of whether violence can be fought with violence,” said the chancellor, who as a young man was a conscientious objector to compulsory military service.
About 200 demonstrators were chanting “Arm Ukraine now” in front of the hall where Scholz was speaking. On placards, they criticized that the arms deliveries were not arriving fast enough.
Bishop Gebhard Fürst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, the diocese hosting the event, said he was in favor of arms deliveries to Ukraine.
“I observe that some things are delayed there, and it is, however, urgently necessary that much that is necessary for self-defense continues to be delivered. That’s a commitment to peace when you resist the aggressor,” he told the audience.

The president of the Catholic peace movement Pax Christi Germany, Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz, said in an interview with KNA, the German Catholic news agency, that he believed a reorientation and new reflection of Christian peace ethics is necessary. Situations like Russia’s current war of aggression against Ukraine are not usually foreseen in most of the peace ethics theories, books and debates, he said.
Also May 27, a rally for peace among participants found many Ukrainians joining in. A local radio station spoke to one of the participants, Father Roman Wruszczak, a parish priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. “We suffer with Ukraine, we cry every day. Personally, I do too. There are days when I find it difficult to celebrate the liturgy,” he said during the interview.

His name is Juan Vicente Pérez Mora, he’s Venezuelan, passionate about his faith, prays the rosary twice a day, and is in the Guinness World Records as the oldest man in the world.
Mora was born on May 27, 1909 and this year he turned 113 years old.
In an article published on May 17 on the Guinness World Records website, Mora said his secret to living a long life is to “work hard, rest on holidays, go to bed early, drink a glass of aguardiente (a strong liquor made from sugarcane) every day, love God, and always carry him in your heart.”
He says his family and friends are his greatest life companions and that the greatest thing he has learned in life is “the love of God, the love of family, and that we must get up early to work.”
According to the Guinness World Records, Mora was officially confirmed the oldest living man in the world on Feb. 4, 2022.