Strong Suspicions Have Widely Arisen Linking Cardinal Pietro Parolin As Vatican Secretary Of State To Holy See’s Doublespeak On Massacre Of Christians In Nigeria-Forcing Us Into Calling For His Immediate Resignation To Avoid Further Putting Nigeria’s 113m Christians And World’s 2.4b Others Including 1.4b Catholics At High Risk
-Intersociety
· in worse than the 2014 Chibok Christian school girls’ BH abduction (276) saga, the political leadership-protected Islamic Fulani Jihadists had killed 280 defenseless Christians and abducted 623 others in 90 days of Sept to Nov 2025 including 388 Christians abducted in five days of Nov 17-21 (314 Christian school children, 12 teachers and 62 others)-during which scores were also killed and their perpetrators remained untracked and uncaught till date
· specially thanks the Catholic Bishops of Makurdi (Anagbe), Nsukka (Onah), Abakiliki (Nworie), Wukari (Nzukwein), Maiduguri (Bakeni), Kontangora (Bulus Yoha); President of CAN (Christ Holy Church Bishop Okoh), Pastor Ezekiel Dachomo (Plateau State), Rev. Fathers Dogo (Amadu-Taraba State), Simanyian (Aye-Twar, Katsina-Ala in Benue State), Tobe Nnamani (Enugu State), Emefieani (Anambra State) and Anglican Canon Onyiuke (Enugu State), in addition to conscientious others for standing firm against ‘Christian Genocide in Nigeria’
· strongly condemns conspiratorial roles in the ‘Christian Genocide’ denials by leaders of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria and heads of their Dioceses of Enugu, Owerri, Onitsha, Abuja, Awka, Ekwulobia, Jos, Sokoto, Umuahia, Nnewi, Lagos, Abuja, etc.
Enugu-Nigeria, Sunday (Christ the King Day), Nov 23, 2025: As today marks Christ the King Day, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (https://intersociety-ng.org) is deeply worried and dismayed by Holy See’s increasingly doublespeak concerning the systematic, well-coordinated and political leadership-enabled massacre of Christians (“Christian Genocide”) in Nigeria. The Vatican doublespeak which started since Oct 21, 2025, has intensified-thereby putting Nigeria’s estimated 113m Christians including 60m Catholics and the entire global Christian population of 2.4b and estimated 1.4b Catholics at high risk and endangerment. The Holy See’s doublespeak was also found to have arisen following sustained attempts by the Office of “the Secretary of State to His Holiness” to “deny Christian Persecution and Genocide in Nigeria”; a narrative strongly promoted, exported and marketed by Nigerian Government-which has also widely earned the country’s political leadership a widespread international condemnation and character untrustworthiness. The most annoying, disappointing and shocking of it is that the Holy See under which the International Religious Freedom was proclaimed as “First Human Right” in 313AD through the Edith of Milan under Popes Constantine and Licinius; is today promoting the same narrative and script of the Government of Nigeria by way of: there is no Christian Genocide in Nigeria.
The above has also landed the Holy See, with Mr. Pietro Parolin as Vatican Secretary of State in a quandary of doublespeak and inconsistencies-such that the Holy See has since then continued to probate and reprobate, by speaking from both sides of its mouth especially since October 2025 when the United States Government and other leading and respected international religious voices strongly blamed the Nigerian Government for turning blind eyes to egregious and grisly, attacks on defenseless Christian population and their sacred places of worship, learning, living and livelihood. The height of the Holy See’s doublespeak and inconsistencies was spotted by the Intersociety on Oct 21, 2025, during the launch of the 1,248-Page 2025 Religious Freedom Report by the Aid to the Church in Need at Rome and Vatican.
The duo of Mr. Pietro Parolin as Vatican Secretary of State and Father Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, had on the sideline of the launch of the massive Report which surveyed 196 countries especially Nigeria-found by the Report to be one of the worst countries to be a Christian; extraneously delved into the direct opposite of the Report by hijacking the opportunity to downplay Nigeria’s worst human rights record on Religious Freedom. This, the duo did by openly promoting and defending the Government of Nigeria’s no Christian Genocide in Nigeria. The action of the duo also de-marketed the internationally released and referenced Report till date. It is recalled that the preamble of the Report reads as follows: “On Oct 21, 2025 in Rome, the Vatican will unveil the 2025 Religious Freedom Report published by Aid to the Church in Need. Religious and public leaders will join victims of persecution to shine a light on one of the greatest human rights issues of our time. As (Pope) St John Paul 11 said, “Religious Freedom is the litmus test for the respect of all other human rights”.
Since then, it has been one controversial and contradictory statement or the other by the Holy See-where Mr. Pietro Parolin holds sway as Vatican Secretary of State’. For instance, Pope Leo XIV (an American) had on Nov 17, 2025 listed Nigeria, Congo DRC, Sudan, Bangladesh, among others as countries facing serious Christian Persecution. Contradictorily on Nov 20, 2025, three days after, Nigeria’s Daily Trust published a report, saying, “Pope Leo XIV, head of the Catholic Church has pushed back claims that Christians are facing genocide in Nigeria, emphasizing that the country’s violence affects Christians, Muslims and other groups alike”. From Intersociety’s checks, this false narrative promoted, exported and disseminated by Nigerian Government has gained uniformity of replication and reproduction in more than 300 social circles reviewed since October 2025; including the Vatican, the Sharia Council, the Sultanate of Sokoto, the Muslim Rights Concern, some lobbied US Democrats and allied others, the Father Hassan Kukah, the pro-Government Christian and Islamic preachers, the CBCN leaders, the PFN leaders, the leaders of Fulani Bandits and others promoting Fulani Banditry, the Fulani Cattle herders’ proprietary bodies, the leaders of Nigeria’s Northeast-based Islamic Jihadists and Nigerian Government’s top functionaries including Ministers of Information and Foreign Affairs and Presidential Advisers on Communications and Information, etc.
It is therefore on the basis of the above that we at Intersociety are strongly calling for immediate resignation of Mr. Pietro Parolin as Vatican Secretary of State who had also worked for three years in the 80s as a top staff of the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos, Nigeria. His immediate resignation as “the Secretary of State to His Holiness” is urgently needed to avoid further putting Nigeria’s estimated 113m Christians including about 60m Catholics and world’s 2.4b Christians and 1.4b Catholics at high risk and endangerment. His official title of “His Eminence” is also hereby suspended in all our advocacy publications and references until further notice. It is our further demand that he should be removed or transferred outside the Vatican by the Holy Father if he fails to resign as a matter of uttermost immediacy. Catholicism is everybody’s property!
280 Christians Killed In Sept-Nov And 623 Abducted-With 388 Abducted In Five Days Our records have shown that a worse than the 2014 Chibok Christian school girls’ Boko Haram abduction of 276 Christian Chibok girls has occurred in five days of Nov 17-21, 2025, during which 388 Christians including 314 Christian school children, 12 teachers and 62 other Christians were abducted by the political leadership-protected Islamic Fulani Jihadists who cumulatively killed 280 Christians and abducted 623 others in 90 days of Sept to Nov 2025. The abducted Christians in five days included a Catholic Priest and ten others abducted in Southern Kaduna on Nov 17; 26 school girls including at least ten Christians-abducted in Wasagu/Danko, an indigenous Christian populated area of Kebbi State on Nov 17; 38 parishioners of the Christ Apostolic Church including a Pastor abducted on Nov 18, 2025 in Kwara State; a Catholic Church leader abducted in Southern Kaduna on Nov 19, 2025; 315 including 303 school children and 12 teachers abducted on Nov 21, 2025 in a Catholic Nursery, Primary and Secondary School in Agwara County of Niger State; and 13 Christian women including 12 in 15-20 age brackets and an elderly woman-abducted by Jihadist Boko Haram in Christian-held Askira-Uba on Nov 20 in Southern Borno State.
We had in our Report of August 10, 2025 found that “more than 7000 Christians were killed by Islamic Jihadists and estimated 7,800 others abducted in 220 days of 2025 (Dec 2024-August 10, 2025”); with additional 280 Christians killed in three months of Sept to Nov 2025 and 623 others abducted. Those 280 slain Christians and 623 abducted others included 100 killed and 120 abducted in 76 days of third week of August 2025 to October 26, 2025; and additional 180 others killed and 503 abducted by Jihadist Fulani Militants (90%) and Jihadist Boko Haram (10%) in three weeks of Oct 28 to Nov 21, 2025; including between 70 and 80 Taraba State Christians killed in Ussa County and Chanchanji in Takum County. Intersociety had also in its statement of Nov 19, 2025, found that “115 Christians were killed by Jihadist Fulani Militants and 170 others abducted in three weeks of Oct 28 to Nov 17, 2025”.
Signed:
For: International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (InterSociety)
· Emeka Umeagbalasi
Criminologist and Researcher
Head, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
· Chidinma Evangeline Udegbunam, Esquire
Human Rights Lawyer/Head, Dept. of Campaign and Publicity
International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
· Comrade Samuel Kamanyaoku
Head, Field Data Collection and Documentation Department
International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
Digital Contacts: Mobile/WhatsApp Lines: +2348100098016, +2349130156872
Email: info@intersociety-ng.org, Website: https://intersociety-ng.org
