Francis Arinze - As Archbishop

As Archbishop

The new Archbishop did not have much time to settle into his office before the Nigeria-Biafra War broke out. The entire archdiocese was located in the secessionist Biafran territory. As a result of the war, Archbishop Arinze had to flee his see city of Onitsha and to live as a refugee, first in Adazi and then Amichi, for the three years of the war, which lasted from 1967 to 1970.

Despite his own refugee status, Archbishop Arinze worked tirelessly for refugees, displaced persons, the sick and the hungry, offering support to priests and religious, and giving the faithful hope for the future. With the help of foreign missionaries, he supervised what one international relief worker called one of "the most effective and efficient distributions of relief materials" in history. He also took care to keep the Church separate from the ongoing political conflict, gaining the respect of all factions in the country.

Francis Arinze was still Archbishop of Onitsha when the Nigeria-Biafra war ended in 1970. As a part of Biafra, Onitsha and its people had suffered greatly in the three-year war. The homes and businesses of the people had been devastated, and the already poor region was sinking deeper into poverty. The end of the war did not mean an end to the challenges facing the young Archbishop.

The Nigerian government deported all foreign missionaries stationed in the archdiocese, leaving only the native clergy and religious, who were few in number. The government also confiscated the Catholic schools, most of which also served as churches or parish halls.

Impressed by Arinze's many accomplishments as the leader of an archdiocese with few resources, and his ability to work side by side with Muslims in a country that is majority Christian (the fearful refusal of Muslims in the north, where they are a local majority, not to allow religion and ethnicity to feature in the recent census in Nigeria is viewed by analysts as an acknowledgement of the Christian numerical superiority in the country as a whole), and with a strong and not-to-be-ignored Muslim population, Pope John Paul II in 1979 appointed Arinze pro-president of the Vatican's Secretariat for Non-Christians, later renamed the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Archbishop Arinze continued as the ordinary of his archdiocese, and was the unanimous choice of his brother bishops for President of the Nigerian Bishops Conference in 1984.

A year later, the people of Onitsha organized a pilgrimage to Rome when they learned that Archbishop Arinze would be named a Cardinal at the Consistory of 25 May 1985.