Burkina Faso: Attack on church is ‘anti-Christian persecution’
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| (File photo) A Bishop blessed a church building site in Fada N'Gouma |
Following the murder of 14 people at a Protestant church in
Burkina Faso, a local Catholic Bishop warns of an Islamist insurgency seeking
to drive a wedge between Christians and Muslims where they have always lived
together in peace.
By Devin Watkins
“A persecution of Christians is underway.”
Bishop Justin Kientega of Ouahigouya provided that analysis
of the current situation in Burkina Faso on Monday.
He said the West African country’s Catholic Bishops have
decried the state of affairs for months, “but no one listens. Obviously they
prefer to protect their own interests.”
Christians killed
On Sunday, suspected Islamist terrorists entered a
Protestant church in the eastern village of Hantoukoura and opened fire on
worshipers.
At least 14 people were shot dead.
The attack, which took place in the Fada N’Gourma area near
the border with Niger, is the latest incident in a pattern of anti-Christian
violence.
To create religious conflict
Bishop Kientega linked the incident to Islamist propaganda,
in a statement provided to Aid to the Church in Need.
There is no doubt, he said, that insurgents are “trying to
create a conflict between religions in a country in which Christians and
Muslims have always gotten along.”
The Bishop added that those who carry out anti-Christian
attacks also spread terror to gain control of land left behind by those who
flee the violence.
Ignored by the West
Over 60 Christians have been killed in Burkina Faso in 2019.
Bishop Kientega said Western media outlets and governments
have largely ignored their deaths, and linked the ongoing violence to the arms
trade.
“Many Western powers obviously have some reason to let the
violence continue. Their profit is more important than our lives,” he said.
Insecurity in the region, the Bishop said, greatly limits
the Catholic Church’s ability to care for the faithful.
For arms sales
Launching an appeal, Bishop Kientega urged the international
community to pay attention to the volatile situation in Burkina Faso.
“Western powers must stop those who commit these crimes,” he
said, “rather than sell them weapons they use to kill Christians.”
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