Dear friends,

We are back to the NO religious house after a day without too many significant events.

We took the morning to rest. We left at 12:30pm for a rental room in the city of Jos, maybe just ten minutes from the house.

There were about 30 confirmations today. The group is smaller than in Nnewi. But what is the most striking is that people here are completely different than in the Southeast. In the Southeast, they are really out of control. After Mass last Sunday, people were literally fighting to take a picture with me. It was very noisy. Here, they were very calm and patient. Almost as different as Englishmen and South Italians can be. Same country, different tribes, different languages. In the South, it is the Igbo tribe. They are the ones who converted the most to the Catholic Faith. I think that the main tribe of the North are the Yoruba. Nigeria has 371 different ethnic groups, but the main ones are the Igbo, the Yoruba and the Hausa.

We had four first Holy Communion today, fourteen last Sunday. Father wanted to wait until I was here to have the first Holy Communions. Very nice of him. People here each have a document where the sacraments they received are registered. There is a space for Baptism, a space for First Holy Communion, a space for Confirmation, a space for marriage, etc, and even a space for Easter duties. As I was filling the Confirmation space, I could see those who had missed their Easter duties and could tell them : «Don’t miss your Easter duties.» - «Yes, My Lord, but it was with the New Mass.» - «I know, don’t go there.»

On our way back, we stoped to buy grilled corn. I was preparing to eat the same kind of corn as we are used to, that is sweet corn, but no, it was very hard. It had a taste like popcorn I would say. It was ok, but I prefer our sweet corn. People here do not eat much meat. It is too expensive for them. They eat mostly vegetables and fruits. They have sweet potatoes and then Irish potatoes, which are the same as our potatoes. They don’t drink much and I don’t think I have seen a single person smoking since I am here. Father said that some smoke, but only at home. It is considered impolite to smoke in public. People here are usually quite slim. There is not much overweight.

Stephen, the driver, explained to me today that the Muslims came through the Sahara in the 17th century. They established emirates here in the North of subsaharian Africa. When the Europeans came later, they came by the sea and subjugated these emirates. In Abuja yesterday, I think I saw for the first time a real mosque with its four towers. I know there are probably a couple in Montréal, but they don’t look like the real deal.

That will be it for today. Please pray for a successful trip to South Africa. There has been some difficulties in the last few days. Father Kemna had made arrangements for my visit, and some people pulled out at the last minute.. Father has to review everything. Not very nice…

God bless you all!

Mgr Roy