{"id":6481,"date":"2025-06-15T18:38:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T18:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/?p=6481"},"modified":"2025-06-15T18:38:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T18:38:20","slug":"pope-leo-kicks-as-200-are-massacred-in-benue-prays-for-peace-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2025\/06\/15\/pope-leo-kicks-as-200-are-massacred-in-benue-prays-for-peace-in-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo kicks as 200 are massacred in Benue, prays for peace in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-6482\" src=\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot_20250615-193250-300x182.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot_20250615-193250-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot_20250615-193250.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Pope Leo<\/p>\n<p>By Amah<\/p>\n<p>Kindly share:<\/p>\n<p>Catholic pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, has condemned the recent massacre of approximately 200 people in Nigeria\u2019s Benue State, offering prayers for the victims and calling for peace and justice.<\/p>\n<p>In a post shared via the Vatican News X (formerly Twitter) handle, the pope expressed deep sorrow over what he described as a \u201cterrible massacre\u201d in Yelwata, Guma Local Government Area. The victims, many of whom were internally displaced persons sheltered by a local Catholic mission, were killed on the night of June 13\u201314 by suspected armed herdsmen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMay security, justice, and peace prevail in Nigeria,\u201d Pope Leo said during his remarks before the Sunday Angelus prayer, adding that he was especially mindful of the rural Christian communities in Benue State who \u201chave been relentless victims of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amnesty International Nigeria also responded to the tragedy, urging Nigerian authorities on Saturday to take immediate action to end the \u201calmost daily bloodshed\u201d in Benue and to bring the perpetrators to justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pope Leo By Amah Kindly share: Catholic pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, has condemned the recent massacre of approximately 200 people&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,2],"tags":[1456,1393],"class_list":["post-6481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-news","tag-benue-massacre","tag-pope-leo-xiv"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.8 - 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