This story feels like it’s on repeat. Four Christians who were wearing crucifixes in the country of Burkina Faso were executed by Islamists. All the others were told that if they didn’t convert to Islam, they would be executed as well:
CBN NEWS – Islamic extremists continue to target and murder Christians in northeastern Burkina Faso.
Aid to the Church in Need reports in the latest attack on June 27, four Christians in the village of Bani were killed by militants for wearing crucifixes. When the attackers saw they were wearing crosses, the four men were singled out and executed.
Bishop Laurent Birfuoré Dabiré of the Diocese of Dori in the northeast of Burkina Faso spoke to the aid organization about the dire situation Christians are facing in the West African country.
“It happened in the neighboring Diocese of Ouahigouya, the bishop recounted, “when the residents of the village of Bani were gathered together. The Islamists arrived and forced everybody to lie face down on the ground. Then they searched them. Four people were wearing crucifixes. So they killed them because they were Christians. After murdering them, the Islamists warned all the other villagers that if they did not convert to Islam they, too, would be killed.”
It was the fifth attack against Christians this year in that area of Burkina Faso. So far in 2019, 20 Christians have been killed by Islamic extremists.
It has become so dangerous for believers there that Bishop Dabiré said, “If the world continues to do nothing, the result will be the elimination of the Christian presence in this area and quite possibly, in future, from the entire country.”
I’m assuming from the fact that they were wearing crucifixes and that Bishop Dabiré is being interviewed for this story, that they were Catholic.
I know there are moments when people rise up to fight these Islamists, but they seem so few and far between. In the meantime, Christians in that part of the world are being exterminated.
And what for exactly? Being Christian, as the Bishop said. There wasn’t even the usual pretense that they offended Islam like we see in Pakistan. Nothing. These Christians became martyrs all because they were wearing a symbol of the Blessed Lord on their bodies.