U.S. and African Catholic bishops gather in Washington to highlight solidarity and Nigeria’s religious freedom concerns

Mass, joint statement and Capitol Hill engagement frame a week of U.S.–Africa church diplomacy

Senior Catholic leaders from the United States and Africa convened in Washington this week for a series of events designed to formalize cooperation between the two regions’ bishops and to elevate concerns about religious freedom, with particular attention on Nigeria.

The centerpiece was a Feb. 4 Mass celebrated at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The liturgy brought together senior representatives from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, a continental body representing Catholic bishops’ conferences across Africa.

The Mass was celebrated by Bishop David J. Malloy of the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois. Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza of Yola, Nigeria—who serves as first vice president of the African bishops’ symposium—delivered the homily. Also concelebrating was Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.

The homily emphasized that Catholic communities in the United States and Africa are linked by shared faith commitments and mutual pastoral responsibilities, while also acknowledging differences in social conditions and church life between the regions.

The Washington gathering followed a Feb. 2 joint statement issued by the U.S. bishops’ international justice committee and the African bishops’ justice, peace and development commission. The statement called for continued solidarity between Catholics in the two regions and urged sustained U.S. engagement that supports life-saving and life-affirming assistance to the African continent. The document framed cooperation in terms of Catholic social teaching, highlighting integral development and partnership rather than transactional ties.

Nigeria’s security and religious freedom concerns move into focus

Alongside the liturgical and policy messaging, the week included engagement on Capitol Hill during a period when Washington hosted a major international religious freedom gathering. In that context, Nigeria’s religious freedom challenges received heightened attention, including discussion in a congressional setting as advocates and church leaders raised alarms about threats faced by faith communities.

Mamza, who became bishop of Yola in 2011, has long been associated with peace and humanitarian initiatives in northeastern Nigeria, a region that has experienced prolonged insecurity and displacement. His role in the Washington events placed a Nigerian diocesan leader at the center of a wider U.S.–Africa church dialogue at a time when lawmakers and civil society groups are increasingly scrutinizing religious freedom conditions globally.

What the week signals for future cooperation

• Formalization of collaboration between U.S. and African bishops through a shared framework rooted in Catholic social teaching.
• A combined emphasis on prayer, public advocacy, and humanitarian assistance as interconnected approaches.
• Increased visibility in Washington for Nigeria-related religious freedom concerns during a period of concentrated advocacy activity.

Organizers presented the Washington events as both a symbol of ecclesial unity and a practical step toward sustained cooperation on peacebuilding, development and protection of human dignity, with religious freedom emerging as a central theme of the week’s public engagement.