African Terror Group Claims Responsibility For Kidnapping Catholic Priest

The African terrorist group Boko Haram has admitted responsibility for kidnapping the Rev. Alphonsus Afina, a Nigerian Catholic priest who previously served in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks reportedly said that a Nigerian diocese contacted them to inform them of Afina’s kidnapping, saying that Boko Haram had called them confirming the priest was in their captivity. The charity, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), reported that Maiduguri Auxiliary Bishop John Bagna Bakeni said the priest, along with several others, were kidnapped on Sunday, June 1.

Boko Haram is a Nigerian-based militant Islamic group that seeks to implement “pure” Sharia law. The group is known to target Christians, including bombing and burning Christian churches. According to ACN, Afina is the 15th religious figure kidnapped in Nigeria this year. (RELATED: Trump Enacts Travel Ban Covering 12 Countries)

Afina wanted to help victims of Boko Haram, Rev. Robert Fath, vicar general of the diocese of Fairbanks, told the Anchorage Daily News. Afina had plans to establish a trauma center for victims of Boko Haram upon his return to Nigeria, Fath said.

“We hear about religious persecution in places like Africa and Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and it’s very intellectual, I think, for most of us,” Fath told the outlet. “But now knowing someone who has been abducted for his faith, who is facing very extreme circumstances, even the possibility of being executed for his beliefs, really brings it home.”

The Diocese of Fairbanks held a mass on Tuesday to pray for the priest’s safety. During his homily, Bishop Steven Maekawa encouraged the faithful to pray for Afina.

“Though we are thousands of miles away from where he’s at, it is the communion of saints that keeps us close to him, that allows the power of our faith to raise him up, to fortify him, and strengthen him in the Holy Spirit,” Maekawa said. (RELATED: Bishops Sue Blue State Forcing Priests To Break Sacred Catholic Law)