Posted on 04/21/2015 7:50:19 PM PDT by NYer
A Nigerian bishop says that he has seen Christ in a vision and now knows that the rosary is the key to ridding the country of the Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram.
Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme says he is being driven by a God-given mandate to lead others in praying the rosary until the extremist group disappears.
“Towards the end of last year I was in my chapel before the Blessed Sacrament… praying the rosary, and then suddenly the Lord appeared,” Bishop Dashe told EWTN News April 18.
In the vision, the prelate said, Jesus didn’t say anything at first, but extended a sword toward him, and he in turn reached out for it.
“As soon as I received the sword, it turned into a rosary,” the bishop said, adding that Jesus then told him three times: “Boko Haram is gone.”
“I didn’t need any prophet to give me the explanation,” he said. “It was clear that with the rosary we would be able to expel Boko Haram.”
The bishop said he didn’t want to tell anyone, but “felt that the Holy Spirit was pushing him to do so.”
He started with the priests of his diocese, and then told participants in the April 17-19 #WeAreN2015 congress in Madrid, Spain. The event is being sponsored by the Spanish Catholic sister groups hazteoir.org and CitizenGo to gather ideas on how to preserve the Christian presence in nations where they are most persecuted.
Bishop Dashe leads the Diocese of Maiduguri, in northeastern Nigeria's Borno State. In 2009, there were around 125,000 Catholics under his guidance. After a surge in violence from the Islamist extremist group called Boko Haram, today “there are only 50 to 60 thousand left,” he said.
Most of those who fled sought safer areas in other parts of Nigeria, he said. Some of the same families are now returning home as armed forces from Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon liberate their homes.
In 2014, Boko Haram became known worldwide when members kidnapped nearly 300 girls from a school in Borno State. On March 7, 2015, five suicide bombers killed 54 and wounded nearly three times as many in the capital city of Maidaguri, where the bishop lives and works.
The group has killed 1,000 people across Nigeria in the first three months of 2015, according to Human Rights Watch, which reports that more than 6,000 have died in Boko Haram-led violence since 2009.
Just last month, the group pledged its allegiance to ISIS – also known as the Islamic State – which launched a bloody campaign in Iraq and Syria last summer.
Meanwhile, Bishop Dashe has just completed a “consolation tour” to communities in his diocese, promoting forgiveness and continued faith. He believes he was asked by Jesus to spread devotion to the rosary in order to aid them as they do so.
“Maybe that’s why he did it,” said the bishop, referring to Jesus in his vision.
Bishop Dashe said he has a strong devotion to Christ’s mother, and that “I never joke with ‘Mamma Mary.’ I know she is here with us.”
And he is not the only Nigerian bishop putting the future of the country in the hands of Mary. The nation’s bishops’ conference has consecrated the country to her twice in recent years.
Bishop Dashe believes that one day his diocese will completely recover and grow thanks to her intercession.
“These terrorists… think that by burning our churches, burning our structures, they will destroy Christanity. Never,” Bishop Dashe told several hundred people from the dais of the #WeAreN2015 congress.
“It may take a few months or a few years … but ‘Boko Haram is gone.’”
He later told EWTN News that “prayer, particularly the prayer of the rosary, is (what) will deliver us from the claws of this demon, the demon of terrorism. And of course, it is working.”
I was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church. According to the dogma of the Church, that makes me a Catholic. Now, are you going to ask if I missed Mass last Sunday, when I last went to Confession, or how much money I last dropped into the Poor Box? Would that "qualify" me to take part in this discussion and make a few salient observations?
I am disappointed that the Moderator saw fit to delete my previous post (a first, for me), which was not at all disrespectful of the Roman Catholic faith or Her teachings or in breach of Free Republic guidelines - though I admit that I did say uncomplimentary things about the bishop's "vision" (by placing the word in quotation marks, and by implying that the prophecies or promises appearing in or "deals" proffered by such "visions" are often so vaguely worded as to be practically unfalsifiable).
But until the Holy See proclaims an official stance on the authenticity of the good bishop's allegedly supernatural revelations or divine prophecies, it is not prohibited by Church doctine to cast doubts upon them - or even to make light of them.
Regards,
The objective of the "caucus" label is to limit the discussion to like minded believers, i.e. eliminate disruption.
Posters who were once baptized in the Catholic Church but no longer associate themselves with the Catholic Church - or do not believe her dogma and doctrine - are not members of the Catholic Caucus on this forum.
If you are currently, actively Catholic let me know by Freepmail and I will restore your posts and posts made to you.
Thank you!
I don't wish to make a "big deal" of this, because my posts can indeed sometimes come off as "off-putting" or even aggressive, and a quick, superficial reading might leave one with the impression that I was attempting to be disruptive.
Notwithstanding certain well-known excesses in the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church has a long history of welcoming skepticism and encouraging the free competition (and even "clash") of diverse ideas and opinions (see Cardinal Newman).
The article on the Nigerian bishop was so short on info and so simplistic in its worldview as to provoke my inner advocatus diaboli.
No offense intended, but if this "Catholic Caucus" is indeed supposed to serve as a sheltered refuge for holding hands and singing "Kumbaya," and where humor, wit, sarcasm, and opposing viewpoints have no place, then I will bear that in mind for the future and act accordingly.
Regards,
I was just relating what I heard on Catholic Answers.
Assumes facts not in evidence.
Praying the Rosary, or laughing and casting doubt and discord about doing so?
I am Catholic, but I can safely say that there is no single set of beliefs, the catechism is interpreted differently from church to church, and I find the Catholic church more open to the discussion and tolerance of various viewpoints than other churches I have tried. So, for the sake of religious freedom, freedom of speech and keeping it real, I support letting people say what they think on this thread.
I can also say that I have prayed literally thousands of rosaries for a certain hoped outcome to no avail.
In order for those not associated with the caucus as designated may post on the thread if they are invited to by the poster of the thread.
Also, please keep in mind that some people feel the need to post a lot of mean things on Catholic threads. The people who post the threads, and those who declare themselves Catholic, have been subjected to all kinds of harassment.
I used to post all the time, on all kinds of threads, but got tired of all the “Christians” saying very cruel things to each other. I love being Catholic but I don’t come to FR to fight or defend myself and my beliefs. It was causing me to be distrustful of my fellow Christians. We Catholics may have thin skins now and the caucus threads are our sanctuary from it all. Say a little prayer for us, and I’ll say a little prayer for you.
Whether the vision has been sanctioned or not, it can only help a country if its citizens are praying the Rosary. They will be spending at least 15 minutes a day thinking about the life of Christ. What could be better?
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