The Diocese of Fairbanks in Alaska prays and asks to pray for Father Alphonsus Afina, which served several years in that region of the United States and has been kidnapped in Nigeria.
Mons. Steven J. Maekawa, Bishop of Fairbanks, published this Thursday A statement On the Diocesan website, in which he thanks those who attended the Mass he celebrated for Father Afine on Tuesday, June 3.
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“It was moving to see so many faithful gathered to pray for Fr. Alphonsus and the other victims of Boko Haram with so little in advance,” said the prelate in relation to the jihadist group that controls the region in Nigeria where the priest has been kidnapped.
🙏 Please Keep Rev. Alphonsus Afina in Your Prayers 🙏
Today at Mass, Bishop Steven Maekawa, O.P., invited all the faithful to join in continued prayer for Rev. Alphonsus Afina, who was recently captured by Boko Haram in his home Diocese of Maiduguri, Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/fkzIc092qb— Diocese of Fairbanks (@Fairbanks_Dioce) June 3, 2025
“We are a powerful people. Like the men who make a hole in the roof to go down to his friend and take him to Jesus, we can bring those in need to our Lord Jesus with our prayers. Without the Lord we cannot do anything,” he continued.
“Fr. Alphonsus and all those who are in captivity need that as many people as possible for them and their captors. I ask them to remember them in the general intercessions of Sunday and that each community offers an hourly Eucharistic hour,” said the American bishop.
“I encourage the faithful to perform additional acts of penance for the strength and security of our brother, Fr. San Alfonso,” he added.
The priest was in the villages of the Seward Peninsula in Alaska between 2017 and 2024. He studied psychology and advice to found Center for Victims of Boko Haram in Nigeria.
The kidnapping of Fina in Nigeria
Mons. John Bogna Bakeni, auxiliary bishop of Maiduguri, the capital of the state of Borno in the northeast of Nigeria, informed that “Father Afina was kidnapped on the night of Sunday, June 1 near Gwoza, when he returned to Maiduguri after celebrating Mass.”
Fr. Alphonsus and all who are in captivity need as many people as possible praying for them and for their captors. I ask that you remember them in the General Intercessions on Sunday and that each community offer a Eucharistic Holy Hour. Read more at: https://t.co/SlBwT5ZvaA pic.twitter.com/90XJ0prXLJ
— Diocese of Fairbanks (@Fairbanks_Dioce) June 5, 2025
According to the Vatican agency Fidesthe kidnappers called the Nigerian diocese on the phone and offered evidence that the priest is still alive.
“I have been able to talk to Father Afine. He is well and in good condition. We hope he can be released soon,” Bishop Bakeni told Fides on June 5.
The Gwoza area in Nigeria is very insecure due to the presence of the two main features in which Boko Haram has been divided: Jama’s Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad (JAS), and the Western Africa Province of the Islamic State (ISWAP), which has adhered to the jihadist extremists of the Islamic State or ISIS.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I am husband since 2008. With my wife we have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before birth. Since I joined ACI Press in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Colonia, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the family’s synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Sinodality, in 2023. I follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers the persecution of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as the ecclesial news in the region.