Malam Dikko Umaru Radda, the governor of Katsina State, has commended the state’s Christian community on the establishment of a new Catholic diocese.
Rev. Fr. Gerald Mamman Musa, the first Hausa Catholic bishop, was consecrated as the first bishop of the recently formed Catholic Diocese of Katsina on Tuesday.
The governor thanked adherents of Islam and Christianity, the two main religions in the state, for their degree of interfaith harmony.
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According to him, the installation of a new bishop and the canonical founding of the Katsina Diocese “proves the high level of religious tolerance between the two religions, expressing hope of a sustenance.”
During a courtesy call, Governor Radda presented the speech to a group of Catholic bishops led by Bishop Hassan Mathew Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese.
The delegation’s leader, Bishop Kukah, had earlier stated that the appointment of Bishop Gerald Mamman Musa—the first Hausa man to hold this esteemed position within the Catholic Church and the first Bishop of the Katsina Diocese—marks a significant advancement for the Catholic Church in northern Nigeria.
The new Katsina Diocese now has the authority to function independently of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese, according to the Bishop.
He gave Governor Radda credit for his backing of the state’s Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Shuaibu Liti, the State Chairman of CAN, stated that the establishment of the Katsina Diocese will contribute to the general advancement of the state and the expansion of the church.
On June 1, 1996, Rev. Gerald Mamman Musa received his priestly ordination. He served as the Director of the Centre for Studies on African Culture and Communication (CESACC) at the Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Port Harcourt, Nigeria, prior to his installation as Bishop of the Katsina Diocese.
