Francis urges action, honors unlikely hero

Pope Francis on Saturday urged Catholics to not remain paralyzed in the face of the injustices around them as he baptized eight adults, including a Nigerian beggar who became a hero in Italy for having disarmed a thief with his bare hands.

In an Easter Vigil homily, Francis challenged Catholics to not remain silent, as Jesus’ disciples were after his crucifixion. Rather, he urged Catholics to “break out” of their routines and let God in.

John Ogah certainly didn’t stand by as he witnessed a supermarket robbery on Sept. 26.

According to Italian news reports, Ogah had been begging for spare change outside a market in Rome’s Centocelle neighborhood when a masked thief, armed with a meat cleaver, tried to make off with the 400 euros ($493) he had stolen from the cashiers.

With nothing more than his bare hands, Ogah confronted the thief, wrested the cleaver away and held him by the collar until police arrived.

Ogah then disappeared, fearing he would be deported because he didn’t have his papers in order. But Rome police authorities sought to reward his courage and within a month had given him a coveted Italian residency permit.

According to the ANSA news agency, he now has a job with the Italian Red Cross and a place to call home.

Ogah told La Repubblica newspaper that his dream was to be a legal resident in Italy and have a job so he wouldn’t have to beg to support his child back home in Nigeria. Ogah had left Nigeria and come to Italy on a smuggler’s boat in May 2014.