Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja, Nigeria, made an urgent appeal for greater understanding and resources from Catholics in the West as the Church in his country faces intense competition from Muslim and Pentecostal groups.

“Awareness is important, knowledge, first of all, to know really what is on the ground and what is going on,” Archbishop Kaigama said. “It’s important to have the knowledge because some people lack knowledge of the geography or history of Nigeria; they don’t know. So this is very important.”

The archbishop spoke to The Good Newsroom on the sidelines of the annual archdiocesan pastors’ retreat in Spring Lake, New Jersey. He was visiting Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan during a brief stop in the New York area. Cardinal Dolan said he and Archbishop Kaigama have known each other for 45 years.

As a country with one of the fastest-growing Catholic populations in the world, Nigeria is also a growing source of priests serving in the United States, including in the Archdiocese of New York. Christians in general, and Catholics specifically, have faced violent attacks, sometimes characterized as struggles between Christian farmers and Muslim nomads.

Archbishop Kaigama described the challenging reality of establishing new parishes with virtually no resources in a highly competitive religious landscape.

“I created 66 parishes, 66, with nothing. They have nothing, and the idea is to be proactive, because if we don’t, those places will be taken over by either Muslims or the Pentecostals, and therefore we are restricted to the center [of the country],” he said.

Archbishop Kaigama drew a stark contrast between the support Muslim organizations receive for faith expansion and the hesitancy of traditionally Christian nations to fund evangelization efforts.

“Muslims are not ashamed of saying, ‘This money we are giving you is to expand the faith. Build more, build schools or whatever,'” he explained. “So I think we need more in that respect. A lot has been done. We receive help, but it’s not enough to sustain the tempo of evangelization activity.”

The archbishop noted that while Western Catholic organizations provide assistance, many prefer to focus on social issues rather than direct evangelization support, putting the Church in Nigeria at a disadvantage in areas where religious groups compete for influence.

He pointed to groups such as Aid to the Church in Need and U.K.-based Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) as being the most effective organizations for delivering faith-based assistance in Nigeria.