– Tej Francis
Email: tejfrancis@gmail.com
Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso bishop: As violence continues, ‘nobody is listening’
(CNA) Following the death of more than a dozen Christians in a church shooting over the weekend, a Burkina Faso bishop said Western governments have a responsibility to stop the flow of weapons to militants in the region.
“The Western powers should stop those who are committing these crimes, instead of selling them the weapons that they are using to kill the Christians,” Bishop Justin Kientega of Ouahigouya told Aid to the Church in Need.
On Sunday, gunmen in the eastern Burkina Faso town of Hantoukoura attacked a protestant church service, killing 14 people, including several children.
“I condemn the barbaric attack against the Protestant Church of Hantoukoura in the department of Foutouri, which left 14 dead and several wounded. I offer my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded,” President Roch Marc Kaboré tweeted late Sunday.
Bishop Kientega said the attack is part of an attempt by radical Islamists to “provoke a conflict between the religions in a country where Christians and Muslims have always lived peaceably side by side.”
CHILE
In Chile’s capital, radical protesters ransack a church
(Aleteia)
An out of control mob on Nov. 8 attacked and ransacked a Catholic church in Santiago, the capital of Chile, which has been in the grips of violent protests. Hooded vandals had dragged out the pews, statues and sacred images into the street, smashing them and setting them on fire. They also sprayed graffiti and abusive slogans on the inside walls of the church as well as on its doors.
The parish priest of Assumption Church, Father Pedro Narbona, on Nov. 10 spoke with parishioners, who had gathered to pray and begin the cleaning up of the church.
In an effort to console the faithful, some of whom could not hold back their tears, Father Pedro said: “The Church is built not so much out of physical materials, but rather of the living stones, which we are, each and every one of us. We are the living stones, and this is the fundamental truth.”
He urged those present “not to slip into the cycle of hatred that can only end up poisoning souls.”
EUROPE
Rise in attacks on churches, Christian symbols and cemeteries across Europe, group says
(Aleteia) A European non-governmental organization that keeps track of incidents against Christians in Europe has documented over 325 such incidents in 2018.
A new report from the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians illustrates a range of hostilities experienced by Christians in their daily lives: from the “squeeze” of interference with religious liberty, parental rights, freedom of expression and conscience, to the “smash” of physical attacks and vandalism of churches and cemeteries. The report also claims that Christian asylum seekers have faced particular difficulties in Europe.
“In 2018, the Observatory documented a rise in the number of churches, Christian symbols, and cemeteries across Europe being vandalized, desecrated, and burned, compared to previous years. But these incidents do not provide a complete picture of the situation for Christians in Europe,” according to a press statement from the NGO.
The report was released in time for this year’s observance of the UN-established International Day for Tolerance, November 16.
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