Of course, in truth that's a merely rhetorical assertion. However important the doctrinal issues may be, nobody's going to live or die depending on how they're resolved.

On the other hand, the same cannot be said for the issue currently dominating Catholic discussion in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, which isn't the theology of same-sex relationships or any of the other topics that often loom so large in Catholic debate in affluent societies.

Archdeacon Hassan John of Jos gave evidence that , "The drivers of the violence in Nigeria may be complex but generally speaking Nigerians are deeply religious... So, while there are social, political and economic drivers, the average Nigerian sees all these from their religious perspective first... Christians and Muslims... see this conflict as one religious group's fight to dominate and, if possible, exterminate the other." Para 62

Just a day before that, an attack on the village of Ungwan Barde killed 17 people and destroyed dozens of homes. One month prior, about 16 people had been killed in Ungwan Barde village in a series of attacks on Feb. 9 and 10.

The governor of Kaduna State imposed a curfew last week on the local government area owing to the deadly outbreak of violence.

Boko Haram, a radical Islamic movement whose name roughly translates to "Western education is forbidden," has ramped up attacks on Christians this year. Since 2009 when Boko Haram began its rampage, about 20,000 Nigerians have been hacked with machetes or shot. Two million have been displaced. Pastors and their families have been specifically targeted for death.