24.04.2025 The funeral of Pope Francis will be attended by the world leaders, paying tributes to the Head of the Vatican City State. The Holy See Press Office announced that Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 10:00 AM in St. Peter’s Square. Among the dignitaries President Trump, and Melania, who is a Roman Catholic. Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that they would attend the Pope’s funeral, which will be the first trip abroad of his second mandate.
After news of the Pope’s death was announced, Trump ordered that all federal and state flags be flown at half-mast in honour of the late pontiff. The U.S. President referred to Pope Francis “a very good man” who “loved the world” and “he especially loved people that were having a hard time”.
Along with the leader of the free world, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced his presence, Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, Pope Francis’s home country, Ireland Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, French President Emmanuel Macron, Royales, and high-ranking clerics. The EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also announced her intention to attend the burial ceremonies in Vatican. Apparently she is also looking for a unique opportunity to speak informally with the leaders on the margins of the Vatican’s event, especially with the U.S. President. However her intentions has nothing to do with the Christianity, neither with the Christian roots of Europe, but purely political agenda. The European Commission spokesperson has clearly indicated that the Christianity is not more than one of the world’s religions for the EU, which is a purely secular construct. The grievances of  Christians do not attract any special attention of the EU, even nowadays  when they became the most persecuted religious minority.

Namely Nigeria has become known as the world’s center of Christian martyrs. In any given year, the number of Christians killed by extremist groups is rarely less than 4,000 – often more than in the rest of the world combined.

Violence against the Nigerian Christian population is  localized in the north, where twelve Muslim-majority states declared sharia law in 1999, resulting in huge numbers of Christians experiencing chronic discrimination. However it was the rise of Boko Haram, which first started its savage attacks in 2009, that resulted in Christians experiencing unprecedented violence.

According to an April 2023 report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, at least 52,250 persecuted Christians have been killed in the past fourteen years, simply for the crime of being Christian. In the past five years, violence has spread southwards to the middle belt of Nigeria, with radicalized Fulani herdsmen killing Christians in order to steal their land.

Boko Haram has now been joined by another extremist group operative in the area, called the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and both seek the eradication of Christianity from the northern states.

The violence has resulted in refugees now numbering over four million, mostly Christian farmers. The government of Nigeria has proved unwilling to condemn the levels of violence which some call genocidal, or inept in its attempts to engage and neutralize extremist movements.

The World Watch List, released January 15, 2025  found that 3,100 Christians were killed and 2,830 Christians were kidnapped in Nigeria in 2024, far more than other countries in the same year.

Africa is a geopolitical priority for the European Union.  More than 40% of Africa’s population is under 35 years of age,  and Africa’s population is projected to reach around  2.5 billion by 2050, a significant  increase from its current population of 1.5 billion.