Nigeria:

Amid severe Christian persecution, the Catholic faithful in the northern part of the West African country of Nigeria are rejoicing over the creation of a new Diocese. The Holy Father created the new Katsina Diocese by dividing the Diocese of Sokoto and making it a suffragan of the Metropolitan See of Kaduna.

On October 16, the Pope also appointed Reverend Gerald Mamman Musa as the first Bishop of the Diocese. He was serving as the professor and director of the Center for the Study of African Culture and Communication of the Catholic Institute of West Africa. The new Diocese becomes the seventh suffragan Diocese in the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kaduna, alongside Kafanchan, Kano, Kontagora, Minna, Sokoto, and Zaria Dioceses. And is the 60th Catholic Diocese in the country.

It has 10 parishes, 11 diocesan priests, and one religious. Additionally, there are 48 catechists and five religious serving the community of believers. They collectively provide services to 13 elementary schools, three secondary schools, and an outpatient clinic.

The bishop-elect was born in Gusau, Zamfara State, in 1971 and was ordained as a priest in 1996. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Queensland in Saint Lucia, Australia. He also holds a master's degree in Dogmatic Theology from the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University in Rome and a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences with a focus in Communication from the Pontifical University Gregoriana, which is also in Rome.

Among other roles Rev. Musa has held include those of secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Sokoto State, vicar of the administrator of the Holy Family Cathedral of the Sokoto Diocese, and Exco member of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council.

The Katsina diocese is located in the country's northern region, where Christian persecution is at its peak. Christians frequently face persecution from Muslim insurgent groups. Therefore, abduction and persecution of Christians are widespread in the country.

According to the latest report by Open Doors, over a year, over 5,000 Christians were murdered for their faith. Over 4,700 Christians in Nigeria were kidnapped within the same period for following Jesus. The report also said that a hundred thousand had to flee their homes.