A beloved Catholic priest on a pastoral mission from Nigeria has tragically taken his own life in Massachusetts following the expiration of his U.S. visa.
Very Reverend Father Benjamin Okwy Madu affectionately known as ‘Father Ben’ by his community died earlier this month by suicide. The 54-year-old priest had reportedly expressed profound distress over rigid new U.S. visa policies that required his immediate return to Nigeria, a country where Christian clergy increasingly face severe security threats.
Local law enforcement and the Essex County District Attorney’s Office investigated the scene and confirmed that no foul play is suspected.
Father Ben, a native of the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki in southeastern Nigeria, had been serving as a hospital chaplain and parish priest on the North Shore of Massachusetts since 2021. Over his five years of service, he became deeply embedded in the local community.
In a heartbreaking farewell message published in the parish newsletter just days before his death, Father Ben laid bare his emotional struggle:
“Sincerely, it is not my wish to return home right now, but circumstances beyond my control have warranted that my time in the United States come to an end. My heart is broken, yet my joy remains. I will miss the home I found away from home…I will deeply miss the seaside, where I often drive after Mass to call my family and hear about their Sundays.”
According to friends and parishioners, Father Ben had fallen deeply in love with the seaside community of Cape Ann and the wider North Shore city area, making the prospect of a forced departure emotionally devastating.
Father Ben was in the United States on an R-1 nonimmigrant religious worker visa. Amid shifting and increasingly stringent U.S. immigration policies, his visa extension was denied, and he was ordered to return to Nigeria immediately.
The Boston Globe reported that behind his warm pastoral demeanor, Father Ben harbored intense anxiety about returning to his home country. In Nigeria, Roman Catholic priests have increasingly become primary targets for militant groups, bandits, and criminal cartels, facing a wave of violent attacks, targeted assassinations and high-profile kidnappings for ransom.
The archdiocese confirmed that the psychological weight of facing these dangers, combined with leaving the community he cherished, ultimately culminated in the tragedy.
In a somber letter sent to clergy throughout the region, Boston Archbishop Richard G. Henning confirmed the nature of Father Ben’s death, expressing profound grief and calling for prayers for the late priest’s soul and his grieving parishioners.
Parishioners have begun gathering at local churches on the North Shore to light candles and lay flowers in memory of a man remembered for his deep empathy, gentle spirit and dedicated service to the sick as a hospital chaplain. Memorial services are currently being arranged by the Archdiocese of Boston in coordination with his home diocese in Nigeria.
