{"id":1153,"date":"2026-07-16T15:08:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T15:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kufmtv.net\/?p=1153"},"modified":"2026-07-16T15:08:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T15:08:46","slug":"nigerian-catholic-priest-allegedly-commits-suicide-after-being-told-to-leave-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kufmtv.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/nigerian-catholic-priest-allegedly-commits-suicide-after-being-told-to-leave-us\/","title":{"rendered":"NIGERIAN CATHOLIC PRIEST ALLEGEDLY COMMITS SUICIDE AFTER BEING TOLD TO LEAVE US"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A Nigerian Catholic priest in Massachusetts has died by suicide, days after being ordered to leave the United States and return to Nigeria, where he had repeatedly said he feared for his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Reverend Benjamin Okwy Madu, 54, died on July 2 at his residence in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, according to the Archdiocese of Boston, where he had served as a hospital chaplain and parish priest on Cape Ann since 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His religious worker visa was due to expire on July 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Boston Globe, his home Diocese of Abakaliki had gone further, instructing him to return to Nigeria even sooner than that deadline, ahead of a new assignment scheduled to begin on August 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madu had reportedly made clear he did not want to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In remarks to parishioners the previous month, and in a farewell message posted to his parish\u2019s website days before his death, he said returning home was not his wish, but circumstances beyond his control have warranted that his time in the United States come to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunday before he died, Madu suffered a panic attack while driving to Mass and was treated at a hospital emergency room, a parishioner told the Boston Globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boston Archbishop Richard Henning told fellow priests in an internal email that Madu had tragically taken his own life according to a copy of the message seen by the National Catholic Register and reported on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Nigerian Catholic priest in Massachusetts has died by suicide, days after being ordered to leave the United States and 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Nigerian Catholic priest in Massachusetts has died by suicide, days after being ordered to leave the United States and 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