Showing posts with label Burkina Faso. Show all posts

Sunday, September 1, 2024

This Sunday the Pope has lots of special prayer intentions

The town of Barsalogho in Burkina Faso, where a recent terrorist attack killed hundreds of people.

POPE

Pope prays for victims of terror attack in Burkina Faso and for peace, worldwide

Pope Francis condemns violence in Burkina Faso and the Middle East, urges environmental action, and seeks prayers for his upcoming trip to Asia, before celebrating the beatification of a Slovak martyr.

By Francesca Merlo

Addressing the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square for his Sunday Angelus address, Pope Francis turned his thoughts and prayers to various parts of the world suffering wars and other forms of violence, as well as to the new beatification of a Slovak martyr.

Condemnation of violence in Burkina Faso

Pope Francis began by expressing deep sorrow over a recent terrorist attack in the town of Barsalogho, in Burkina Faso, where hundreds of people were killed and many others injured. In extending his condolences to the families of the victims, the Pope said, "I condemn these horrific acts against human life and stand in solidarity with the people of Burkina Faso."

Burkina Faso has seen a rise in extremist violence in recent years with attacks by terrorist groups causing fear and devastation. The August 24 incident is part of a broader conflict that has destabilised the region, creating disastrous humanitarian challenges.

Prayers for Brazil victims

Pope Francis then offered his prayers for those affected by a tragic accident at the Sanctuary of Nossa Señora da Conceição in Recife, Brazil. On Saturday, as people were gathered at the site to receive food baskets, the church's roof collapsed killing at least two people and injuring dozens more. "May the Lord comfort the injured and their families during this difficult time," Pope Francis said.

Solidarity with the people of Ukraine

Then, as has become customary for Pope Francis to do, he reiterated his concern for the people of Ukraine, who continue to suffer under Russian shelling. Speaking specifically of the damage caused to infrastructure, the Pope highlighted the humanitarian consequences, as "in addition to causing deaths and injuries, the attacks on energy infrastructure have left over a million people without basic necessities like electricity and water".

Appeal for peace in the Holy Land

Addressing, then, the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas, Pope Francis, once again, called for immediate action to prevent further violence and the spreading of the conflict across the region.

“Once again, I turn my thoughts with concern to the conflict in Palestine and Israel, which risks spreading to other Palestinian cities. I appeal for negotiations not to stop, for an immediate ceasefire, for hostages to be released, and for aid to be provided to the people in Gaza, where many diseases, including polio, are also spreading", he urged, before imploring, "May there be peace in the Holy Land, may there be peace in Jerusalem!”

World Day of Prayer for Creation

Turning then to note that 1 September marks the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis highlighted the urgent need for collective action to protect the environment.

“Today we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. I hope for a concrete commitment from everyone—institutions, associations, families, and every individual—to our common home. The cry of the wounded Earth is becoming more and more alarming and calls for decisive and urgent action,” stressed the Pope.

Beatification of Ján Havlík

Pope Francis then celebrated the beatification of Ján Havlík, a seminarian martyred during the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. "This young man, killed for his faith in 1965, stands as an example for all who continue to face persecution," the Pope said, noting the importance of this beatification, as it highlights the trials faced by religious individuals under oppressive regimes.

Prayers for Pope Francis' 45th Apostolic Journey

Finally, Pope Francis mentioned his upcoming 45th Apostolic Journey, which will see him travelling to Indonesia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste from 2-13 September. On this occasion, the Holy Father asked for prayers for its success, inviting everyone to "please pray that this journey will bear fruit".

Monday, February 26, 2024

Terrorism related murder of 15 Catholics while attending Mass in Burkina Faso

Burkinabe displaced by islamist terrorists' attacks

CHURCH

15 Catholics reported killed in terrorist attack in Burkina Faso

The Catholic Diocese of Dori confirms that 15 parishioners were killed on Sunday during a terrorist attack in Essakane village and two others injured, as jihadist groups linked to al-Qaida and the so-called Islamic State (IS) continue to extend their range of action in the vast Sahel region.

By Lisa Zengarini

At least 15 Catholics attending Sunday Mass were killed on Sunday in jihadi-ridden Burkina Faso during a terrorist attack, reported local Church sources.

The attack occurred in Essakane village in the country’s North-Eastern Oudalan province, a jurisdiction of the Catholic Diocese of Dori bordering Mali and Niger.

According to a media release issued by the Vicar General of diocese on behalf of the Bishop Laurent Birfuoré Dabiré, twelve worshippers died at the scene of the attack, while three succumbed to their injuries and two others are in hospital.

Prayers for the dead for those who continue to wreak death in the country

In the brief statement, Fr. Jean-Pierre Sawadogo invited the faithful to pray for those “who died in faith, for the healing of the wounded, and for the consolation of grieving hearts."

The Vicar General also appealed for prayers for the conversion of those who “continue to wreak death and desolation in the country.”

"May our efforts of penance and prayer during this blessed season of Lent obtain peace and security for our country, Burkina Faso," he wrote.

Deteriorating humanitarian and security situation in the Sahel region

The February 25 attack is the latest in a long string of atrocities committed by Islamist terrorist groups linked to the so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda in the vast Sahel region which also includes Mali and Niger, where terrorism has increased by over 2,000 percent in the last 16 years causing the displacement of millions of people.

Authorities in the region have been battling against the Islamist terrorist groups since Libya’s civil war in 2011, followed by an Islamist takeover of Northern Mali in 2012. Though the Malian government regained most of the territory in 2013 with the support of French forces, which are now no longer present, the jihadist insurgency has continued even after the military took over in a coup in 2021 ,and has spilled over into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso now also ruled by military juntas.

Dramatic impact of terrorism on the Church in Burkina Faso

In an interview in 2023 Bishop Birfuoré, who chairs the Joint Bishops' Conference of Burkina Faso and Niger, (CEBN), told the Catholic foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), that the consequences of this wave of terrorism have been terrible for the Church.

Apart from sometimes attacking Christian churches, the terrorists also kidnap foreign missionaries, priests, seminarians and men and women religious and a growing number of parishes ahave been bandoned by the faithful because of fear of attacks.

He confirmed that half of the territory is controlled by jihadist groups that want to impose Islam on the whole country. “The terrorists want to eradicate this society and all who do not profess the same brand of Islam, including Muslims, which means that the terrorism is now aimed at society as a whole,” he said.

He went on to identify the jihadist group dubbed “Support Group for Islam and Muslims” as the most notorious in the West African natoion, adding that the group’s “actual goal is to oppress today's society, which is a multi-religious society of dialogue and coexistence.”

Terrorism-related deaths in the Sahel are 43 percent of the global total

According to the 2023 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), terrorism-related deaths in the Sahel represented 43 percent of the global total in 2022, up from just 1 percent in 2007, with Burkina Faso and Mali, accounting for 73 per cent of terrorism deaths in the Sahel and 52 per cent of all deaths from terrorism in sub-Saharan Africa.

Both countries recorded substantial increases in terrorism, with deaths in Burkina Faso increasing by 50 per cent to 1,135 and in Mali by 56 per cent to 944. Attacks in these countries are also becoming more deadly, with the number of people killed per attack increasing by 48 per cent from 2021.

The escalation in violence in Burkina Faso has also spread to neighbouring countries, with Togo and Benin recording their worst GTI scores on record.

In March last year, a delegation of 10 West African Catholic and Muslim religious leaders from Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Ghana met the U.S. legislators “to discuss the deteriorating humanitarian and security situation in the Sahel region,” the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the humanitarian arm of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), reported.

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Pope lists several prayer intentions at end of Angelus Address

Destroyed buildings on the Gaza strip (file photo)

POPE

Pope prays for an end to violence in the Holy Land, Burkina Faso and the Mediterranean Sea

In renewed appeals following his Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis calls for prayers and for peace for the countless victims of violence in the Holy Land, Burkina Faso and the Mediterranean Sea which sees so many migrants drown as they take on perilous journeys to cross it.

By Francesca Merlo

Addressing the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus, after the recitation of the Marian prayer, Pope Francis turned his thoughts to the terrible news that continues to come from the Holy Land.

In light of recent tragedies, Pope Francis noted that many people, including children, are being killed and he asked, “How can we put an end to this spiral of violence?”

The Holy Father then renewed, once more, his appeal that "dialogue may reign over hatred and revenge".

“I pray to God for the Palestinians and the Israelis, that they may find the road to fraternity and peace, with the help of the international community”.

Violence in Burkina Faso

Pope Francis then shared his worries regarding the situation in Burkina Faso, where "terrorist attacks continue to take place".

Once again, Pope Francis invited all those following his Sunday Angelus to "pray for the people of that dear country", in the hope that the violence they continue to endure might not lead them to lose hope in their journey of democracy, justice, and peace.

In recent updates from the west African nation, the so-called Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for killing over 70 soldiers, wounding dozens more, and taking five people hostage in an ambush on a military convoy in the northern part of the country.

Another tragedy on the Mediterranean

Then, Pope Francis shared recent news of yet another shipwreck on the Mediterranean. He explained that just off the coast of Calabria in Italy, another boat carrying migrants from northern Africa had capsized, and since this morning 40 bodies, including the bodies of many children, have been recovered. "I pray for them", said the Pope, "for those who are lost, and for those who have survived", he added.

The Holy Father also expressed his gratitude towards all those who participate in rescue operations, as well as to all those who offer welcome to those seeking refuge. "May the Virgin Mary sustain you", he concluded.

Concluding, Pope Francis asked those present not to forget Ukraine one year after the start of the Russian invasion. “And let us not forget the Syrian and Turkish people, victims of terrible earthquakes”.

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Sister Suellen recounts 5 months of captivity, her faith and freedom

Sister Suellen: ‘Thank you!’

Note: To honor Sister Suellen's request for privacy, the only information available is the following story on the Clarion Herald website. (Photos by Peter Finney Jr., Clarion Herald)

By PETER FINNEY JR.
Clarion Herald

During her nearly five months of captivity in Burkina Faso, West Africa, Marianite Sister Suellen Tennyson wondered aloud where God was hiding in the midst of her isolation and loneliness.

Then, in an instant, she looked down at her feet, where one of her toenails had been battered and bloodied during a harrowing post-kidnapping motorcycle ride deep into the forests of West Africa, after which she was turned over to a rival Muslim group.

Her new captor saw her gouged toe and, inexplicably, began washing her feet.

“He washed my feet,” Sister Suellen told the Clarion Herald Sept. 13. “I’m sitting there, and this Muslim man is washing my feet. And I said, ‘God, is something going on here?’ It was like God was using him in some kind of way. I was just taken aback.”

In a pre-dawn raid by 10 armed men between April 4 and 5, Sister Suellen, 83, was abducted from the medical mission residence in Yalgo that she shared since 2013 with two other Marianite sisters and several lay employees.

After five months of her congregation hearing nothing about her whereabouts or her condition, Sister Suellen, the former international leader of the Marianites of Holy Cross, was freed peacefully in neighboring Niger – to the east of Burkina Faso – and released into the custody of the FBI and personnel of the U.S. embassy and Air Force.

No ransom was paid, Sister Suellen said, another one of the inscrutable mysteries of her captivity and release.

Speaking from a safe haven in the Archdiocese of New Orleans – where she returned quietly on Aug. 31 via medical transport – Sister Suellen said she was full of gratitude that her life was spared and for her safe treatment in captivity and the invisible actions of the thousands of people who prayed and worked for her release.

“That’s what I want to say – ‘Thank you to all these people,’” Sister Suellen said. “I am truly humbled by all of this. And the only way I can say thank you is ‘thank you.’ My heart is filled with gratitude.”

Living nightmare unfolds

The kidnappers, part of the first Muslim group, grabbed her from her bed without her shoes, glasses or medicine. They blindfolded and gagged her to keep her from yelling out to the two other Marianite sisters – Sister Pauline Drouin, a Canadian, and Sister Pascaline Tougma, a Burkinabé – who were locked in their rooms.

“I thought maybe they were going to leave me sitting on the porch, but all of a sudden they wrapped me up and took me,” Sister Suellen said.

“Whoa, this was not what I thought was going to happen. But from the beginning, I was asking God to please use this for good. I don’t understand why it’s happening; I don’t understand why they took me. And a lot of good has happened – all these people praying.”

Sister Suellen was placed on the back of a motorcycle and told to hang on. Her captors rode through the night and for most of the early morning until she was handed over to the second group, which treated her reasonably well and did not physically harm her.

Her captor at one point gave her a few pieces of paper and a red pen, which she used to mark her days in captivity on a handmade calendar. Whenever she was moved to a new, unknown location, she would draw a horizontal line to symbolize the latest segment of her journey.

At the end of each week, she drew the numbers 7, 14 and 21 and circled them to keep track of her time.

She had absolutely no idea where she was.

“I told my caretaker, ‘I can’t run away – I can’t run, and I don’t know the way!’” Sister Suellen said, smiling.

Faith sustained her

Before the rainy season came in June, she slept outside under a hand-crafted, tent-like structure with branches and leaves for the roof and a cloth that could be moved to keep the direct sun out of her eyes. For most of her captivity, she had no books of any kind to read, so she relied on her Catholic formation to recite prayers she has known since childhood and Bible verses.

She also began every day with the prayers of the Mass – remembering what she could and reflecting on Scripture.

“Prayer sustained me,” she said. “I went through my Mass every day. I did each part of the Mass and received spiritual Communion. During the day, at least three or four times a day, I would do a spiritual Communion. That was the thing that kept me going because I had nothing.”

Yalgo is in northern Burkina Faso, not far from the border with Mali. Reliefweb reported in April that in the last two years, Burkina Faso’s northern and eastern regions had seen a “sharp deterioration in the security situation ... due to the presence of non-state armed groups.”

Sister Suellen said there was nothing very much out of the ordinary in the days leading up to her abduction.

“We had been having many problems with local terrorists who had been causing trouble, so I thought they were the ones who abducted me,” she said. “I thought they were just coming to rob.”

Sister Suellen said she contracted malaria and lost 20 pounds during her captivity. Her diet consisted of “spaghetti, rice, sardines; spaghetti, rice, sardines – but no Italian sauce or good Creole sauce. No red beans and rice. But, I did have my cup of coffee in the morning. I had a piece of bread every day, but I had the hardest time swallowing it. I have no desire for sardines any more.”

During her loneliest moments, Sister Suellen said she prayed for “peaceful patience,” because she saw no end in sight.

“I had many conversations with God,” she said. “I would say, ‘OK, God, what’s your word to me today at this moment?’ Sometimes it was a Scripture passage or a story from Scripture. But, after a while, it was just messages to me. And the one that stayed with me the longest was ‘peaceful patience. You need to be peacefully patient.’”

“I prayed the mysteries of the rosary and the Way of the Cross many times. And, you know, Jesus felt his father had abandoned him. I said, ‘Have you abandoned me, God?’ And he said, ‘Suellen, I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have called you, and you are mine.’ I said, ‘OK, I know you haven’t abandoned me, but I just don’t know how much longer I can go on.’”

Inching toward freedom

At some point, her captor found a sofa for her so that she did not have to sleep on the floor.

In August, without warning, she moved again, this time on a motorcycle ride in which she had to cross three rivers. She was so tired at the time she begged for a rest because she was barely able to hang on.

Then, finally, at a rest stop, she saw three men dressed in African garb along with another man dressed in a nice shirt and pants.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh Jesus, is this another group I’m going to have to start up all over again with?’” she said. “But the good news is they had a truck and not a motorcycle. One of the men came to me and said, you can take that jacket off. And he turned to me and he said, ‘You’re free!’ I said, ‘What? I’m free? Who are you?’”

They were now in neighboring Niger, where the men took her to someone’s house.

“We stopped to get something to eat, and the man said, ‘You need to take a shower. Let the woman of the house help you,’” Sister Suellen said. “Oh, I felt like I was in heaven. And then it dawned on me. That was the first woman I had seen in five months.”

Sister Suellen arrived back in the archdiocese on Aug. 31 and went for medical checkups. She is regaining her strength and using a walker to guard against falls, but she is getting stronger.

“I sang ‘Amazing Grace’ I can’t tell you how many times,” she said. “And I would just add the verse and put how many days I had been in captivity. But I still have just one day to praise the Lord – today.”

pfinney@clarionherald.org

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Sister Suellen Tennyson has been freed

Sister Sullen freed after five months of captivity in Burkina Faso

By Peter Finney Jr. and Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald
Marianite Sister Suellen Tennyson, who was kidnapped from the convent of her educational and medical mission in Yalgo, Burkina Faso, Africa, in early April, has been found alive and is safe after nearly five months of captivity, Marianite Sister Ann Lacour, congregational leader of the Marianites, said Aug. 30.

“She is safe,” Sister Ann told the Clarion Herald. “She is on American soil, but not in America. She is safe. She was recovered (Monday) morning. We have spoken to her. She eventually will get back to the United States.”

Sister Ann said she had spoken with Sister Suellen by telephone.

At least 10 armed men were involved in the attack in which Sister Suellen, 83, was abducted, the Marianites of Holy Cross said in an electronic newsletter at the time of the abduction.

Since then, there had been no news of her whereabouts or condition.

Sister Ann said when she spoke with Sister Suellen, the missionary did not actually “know where she was.”

“She’s totally worn out,” Sister Ann said. “I told her how much people love her, and she doesn’t have anything to worry about. I told her, ‘You are alive and safe. That’s all that matters.’”

New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond said he received a text from Sister Ann earlier in the day and was overjoyed that she had been freed. When Sister Suellen was abducted – barefoot and in the middle of the night – she had left behind her blood pressure medication and her glasses.

The congregation said Sister Suellen, the former international congregational leader for the Marianites of Holy Cross and native of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, was sleeping when the men burst into the convent, ransacked the living quarters and kidnapped her, leaving behind two other Marianite sisters and two young women who also lived in the convent.

“There were about 10 men who came during the night while the sisters were sleeping,” Sister Ann said in an e-bulletin April 6. “They destroyed almost everything in the house, shot holes in the new truck and tried to burn it. The house itself is OK, but its contents are ruined.”

Sister Ann said she was told by the two younger women living at the convent that Sister Suellen was taken from her bed with “no glasses, shoes, phone, medicine, etc.”

The other two Marianites at the convent in Yalgo – Sister Pauline Drouin, a Canadian, and Sister Pascaline Tougma, a Burkinabé – were not abducted and did not see many of the details.

“They say the two young women who live with them saw what happened and told them (the details),” Sister Ann said. “They think there were more men on the road. They have heard nothing from or about Suellen since she was taken.”

Sister Ann said Sister Pauline and Sister Pascaline were quickly relocated to Kaya, Burkina Faso, about 70 miles from Yalgo.

Sister Ann said the Marianites contacted both the U.S. Embassy in Burkina Faso and the U.S. State Department and received assurance that this was “a high priority case for them.” The congregation also contacted the apostolic nuncios to the U.S., Burkina Faso and France as well as the Vatican’s secretary of state and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the U.S.

Yalgo is in northern Burkina Faso, not far from the border with Mali. Reliefweb reported in April that in the last two years, Burkina Faso's northern and eastern regions had seen a "sharp deterioration in the security situation ... due to the presence of nonstate armed groups.”

Sister Ann, who has visited the Marianites in the country, said Sister Suellen was serving as a pastoral minister, "to wipe tears, give hugs, import a smile. She really did support the people that work in the clinic that the parish runs.” People walked for miles to get help from the clinic, she said.

Bishop Theophile Nare of the Kaya Diocese, said Sister Suellen was abducted overnight between April 4 and 5 and taken to an unknown destination by Unidentified Armed Men (UAM).

The bishop said the kidnappers vandalized the convent where Sister Suellen lived in community with other religious women before taking her to the unknown destination.

According to media reports, Burkina Faso, one of the 10 countries in the Sahel region of Africa, has been facing rampant violence occasioned by political crises, which offer a fertile ground for the proliferation of extremist groups.

The city of Yalgo borders the province of Soum, where armed groups are particularly active. In this area, attacks against civilians have increased according to reports.

“I’m so thrilled,” said Ruby Faucheux Keefe, a childhood friend of Sister Suellen’s from Kenner, after hearing that Sister Suellen was safe in U.S. custody. “I’ve been thinking about her every day. This has made my day. We grew up together.”

Keefe, 85, and Sister Suellen attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help grammar school in Kenner. Even after going to different high schools – Keefe to Kenner High and Sister Suellen to the Academy of the Holy Angels – the two remained friends and enjoyed jitterbugging at weekend high school dances. Keefe remembers visiting Sister Suellen at the Marianite Convent on St. Claude Avenue in New Orleans.

“Just remember we loved to dance,” Keefe said Sister Suellen would always say when the two talked over the phone or in person when Sister Suellen returned home for a New Orleans visit.

The last time Sister Suellen was in town, Keefe recalled how much Sister Suellen expressed her love for being in Africa, even though it was very primitive.

“She told me she didn’t have hot water,” Keefe said. “I thought I don’t know how she did it at our age, but she loved it.”

“I just feel so great to hear that she’s been found,” Keefe said.

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Nun with ties to New Orleans kidnapped in west Africa

American nun, 83, kidnapped by armed men in northern Burkina Faso

OUAGADOUGOU, April 5 (Reuters) - Armed men have kidnapped an 83-year-old American nun in northern Burkina Faso, the bishop of the local diocese said on Tuesday.

The bishop did not know the identity of the kidnappers. Militant groups, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, have taken over large swathes of territory in Burkina Faso and conduct frequent attacks on the army and civilians. A Canadian was found dead after a kidnapping there in 2019.

The nun was named in a statement as Suellen Tennyson, of the Catholic congregation Marianites of Holy Cross. She was kidnapped on Monday night in the parish of Yalgo, part of the diocese of Kaya, where she had been serving since 2014, it said.

"Sister Suellen Tennyson was taken to an unknown destination by her kidnappers who, before leaving, vandalised rooms (and) sabotaged the community vehicle which they tried to take," Kaya Bishop Theophile Nare said in the statement.

The U.S. Embassy in Burkina Faso said in a statement that it was aware of reports of a U.S. citizen missing.

"U.S. Embassy Ouagadougou is working diligently with local authorities to verify these reports and is monitoring the situation. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance," it said.

Burkina Faso's ruling military junta has said security is its top priority and this week presented a new plan to reorganise and reinforce army operations against the militants.

Monday, May 27, 2019

It happened again in Burkina Faso; this time 4 are dead

4 killed at Sunday Mass in Burkina Faso

Four people were killed in an attack on a Catholic church in northern Burkina Faso, perpetrated on Sunday 26 May, in Toulfé, a village about twenty kilometers from Titao, the capital of the northern province of Loroum. “The Christian community of Toulfe was the target of a terrorist attack gathered for Sunday prayers. The attack left four of the faithful dead”, the Bishop of Ouahigouya, Justin Kientega, said in a statement.
8 heavily armed individuals arrived in the village around nine in the morning, aboard four motorcycles. They entered the church where the Catholic community had just gathered to attend mass. Three people died immediately, while another died as a result of wounds. Some people were also injured.
Yesterday’s attack follows the attacks on Sunday 12 May against the parish of Dablo, during which an armed group killed Don Siméon Yampa and five faithful (see Fides, 13/5/2019), and that of 13 May against a Marian procession in Singa, with the death of four faithful and the destruction of the statue of the Virgin (see Fides, 14/5/2019). On 15 February 2019 during an attack at a checkpoint in Nohao, on the border with Ghana, Fr. Antonio César Fernández Fernández, a Spanish Salesian missionary was killed (see Fides, 16/02/2019).

“Faced with this disturbing wave of violence that blows not only on Burkina Faso but also on Niger, Mali and Nigeria, we express our strongest condemnation and we want to assure our brothers and sisters affected by violence our solidarity, our prayer and our compassion. Holding our assembly here in Burkina, we wanted to give you a sign of our effective and emotional closeness”, wrote the participants in the third Plenary Assembly of Bishops of West Africa.

via Fides News Agency

Posted by Fides News Agency on May 27th, 2019

Thursday, May 16, 2019

West African Church Leaders to join together to combat Catholic persecution

CHURCH

West African Church leaders vow to join forces against terrorism

Members of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa have issued a statement in which they pledge to work together to combat terrorism and pave the way to peace in the region.

By Linda Bordoni

West African church leaders are calling for unity to counteract the violence perpetrated against Christian churches and communities in the region and build a peaceful society.

Burkina Faso and Niger, in particular, are reeling from a spate of jihadist attacks against Catholics in which many have died and churches and catholic symbols have been destroyed.

In the past week at least 10 people, including a priest, were killed by unknown assailants during attacks against Catholics in Burkina Faso, while a priest in Niger was injured in his parish in Niamey Diocese close to the Burkina Faso border.

Plenary Assembly

Gathered in Ouagadougou for its 3^rd Plenary Assembly, Bishops of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) said it is “together, in synergy, that violence will be overcome and that the people will emerge victoriously”.

The Plenary is taking place in Burkina Faso’s capital city from 13 to 20 May. It was scheduled to focus on the theme of ‘New Evangelization and Integral Human development in the Church’, but issues pertaining to the violence have taken center stage.

Noting that his brother bishops are present for the plenary present despite the current climate of insecurity, the Archbishop of Ouagadougou and President of the Burkina Faso-Niger Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo, said “The presence of the Bishops of our sister Churches demonstrates the living solidarity between the communities of West Africa and the world.”

“The Lord is here with us and we will win”, he said

The Church's contribution to peace and social cohesion

Some civil authorities are also present at the meeting. One representative of the Economic Community of West African States praised the Church's intention to contribute to peace and social cohesion.

“This effort is all the more necessary”, he said, because, as the President of Burkina Faso said following the recent attacks, “terrorists are trying to unleash inter-municipal and now inter-religious conflicts”.

“Christians have been killed for their faith, without any other reason, by people who have no morals or ethics,” he said