On Sunday, while many of us were worshiping in churches all across American, Christians in Burkina Faso were under attack.
Six people were killed, including a priest, when 20 to 30 gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on Christians while they were celebrating Mass, according to CNN:
Gunmen on motorcycles stormed the church in Dablo on Sunday morning, killing six men, including the priest, identified as Father Simeon Yampa. The attackers then set fire to the church and other buildings in the area, the Burkina Information Agency reported.
Yesterday, another four Christians were killed in the same region by more gunmen on motorcycles, which is also just being reported by CNN:
Four people were killed and a statue of the Virgin Mary was destroyed in an attack on parishioners during a religious procession in Burkina Faso, church officials told CNN on Wednesday.
Unidentified armed men, who on Monday stopped a group of worshipers during a Catholic parade in the remote village of Zimtenga, in the Kongoussi area of the country’s northwest, set children free but killed four adults.
They then burned a statue of the Virgin Mary, Paul Ouédraogo, president of the Episcopal Conference of Burkina Faso and Niger told CNN.
CNN says the country has recently come under a growing threat from Muslim terrorists:
“We will not be bogged down by the religious attacks,” said Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo at an ongoing conference of Catholic bishops in the capital, Ouagadougou, on Tuesday.
Christians have recently come under attack across the northwest African country, which is facing a growing terrorist threat. In April, five churchgoers, including a pastor, were killed in a deadly attack by armed men in Silgadji town.
Escalating attacks by armed Islamist groups have forced tens of thousands to flee their villages this year, Human Rights Watch said in a recent report.
I fear attacks like these in Burkina Faso are only going to get worse.
The other day we reported that Christian persecutions have gotten so bad it is at near genocide levels in some areas of the world.
In Revelation 7, which we just read at Mass this past Sunday, it says:
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands…
What I didn’t realize until recently is that this great multitude seen by St. John is a multitude of martyrs, signified by the palm branches in their hands.
I can’t help but think of this when I see how many Christians are being killed in these evil attacks.