Blogs
Featured Image

May 18, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — In this special episode of The John-Henry Westen Show, I am very pleased to bring you an incredible conversation I had with Father Innocent Sunu. Fr. Innocent is a Nigerian priest who heroically cares for the physical and spiritual lives of faithful Catholics in North Nigeria being persecuted by terrorist group Boko Haram.

Fr. Sunu told me about how Nigerian Christians continue to be oppressed and even killed because they are standing up for the faith. He described how his parish in Madagali, Nigeria, has been really dangerous for priests. “So many of our fore-pastors have been kidnapped. They’re not just being kidnapped. They are being murdered in front of people openly.”

Despite being given the liberty by his bishop to decide where he was to be sent after his ordination, Fr. Sunu chose to go to Madagali. He said that his primary motivation was that God had given him the confidence to make the decision.

When he arrived in Madagali for the very first time, Fr. Sunu saw that the church, rectory, school, and clinic had been “completely destroyed” by Boko Haram terrorists. Even though he was at first shocked and in tears, he knew he was given the responsibility to make “something happen in that place.”

He also mentioned other factors that contribute to the persecutions and hardships faced by Christians in Nigeria. He says that “the military have compromised,” and while they say that they are combating the terrorists, they are acting against civilians. He described how the government has stopped people from farming, which has led to people going hungry.

LifeSite has set up a LifeFunder page for Fr. Innocent Sunu and his courageous work. I ask you to prayerfully consider making a donation to make a difference in the lives of faithful, persecuted Catholics in the violence-torn country of Nigeria. You can securely donate here: https://www.lifefunder.com/innocent

The John-Henry Westen Show is available by video on the show’s YouTube channel and right here on my LifeSite blog.

It is also available in audio format on platforms such as SpotifySoundcloud, and ACast. We are awaiting approval for iTunes and Google Play as well. To subscribe to the audio version on various channels, visit the ACast webpage here.

We’ve created a special email list for the show so that we can notify you every week when we post a new episode. Please sign up now by clicking here. You can also subscribe to the YouTube channel, and you’ll be notified by YouTube when there is new content.

You can send me feedback, or ideas for show topics by emailing [email protected].

By clicking subscribe, you are agreeing to receive emails about The John-Henry Westen Show and related emails from LifeSiteNews.

Featured Image

John-Henry is the co-founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews.com. He and his wife Dianne have eight children and they live in the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, Canada.

He has spoken at conferences and retreats, and appeared on radio and television throughout the world. John-Henry founded the Rome Life Forum, an annual strategy meeting for life, faith and family leaders worldwide. He is a board member of the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family. He is a consultant to Canada’s largest pro-life organization Campaign Life Coalition, and serves on the executive of the Ontario branch of the organization. He has run three times for political office in the province of Ontario representing the Family Coalition Party.

John-Henry earned an MA from the University of Toronto in School and Child Clinical Psychology and an Honours BA from York University in Psychology.