Burkina Faso: In the north, faith resists amid heavy international silence
The Church in northern Burkina Faso deplores the lack of media attention given to the terrorist crisis it is suffering, with displaced people facing enormous needs and Christian communities showing great resilience. During a visit to the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need, in Koenigstein, Germany, Bishops Théophile Naré and Justin Kientega spoke about the situation in their Dioceses of Kaya, Dori and Ouahigouya.
For the tenth consecutive year, Christmas Masses in Burkina Faso will take place before nightfall. “The celebrations will begin early to avoid having to move around at night,” explains Bishop Théophile Naré of Kaya, who is also apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Ouahigouya. Prudence is also the rule in the Diocese of Ouahigouya. Since the Pastoral Life and Security forum of 2021, the faithful, scouts, Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland and security forces have been collaborating on big religious festivals.
Despite the fear, faith remains lively. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” recalls Bishop Naré, quoting Tertullian. “The key word is resilience: persevering in prayer, hope and doing good,” he adds. Proof of this is the 125th anniversary of the evangelisation of the country, celebrated in March at the Marian sanctuary of Yagma, with two million faithful taking part. “If the enemy was thinking of snuffing out Christianity, it’s wasting its time: Christianity in Africa is spreading,” insists the bishop. In Koumi, in the west of the country, the seminary is full, even though the country’s priests are targets for the terrorists. The paradox is striking.
Pastoral work in prisons likewise illustrates this dynamic. Bishop Justin Kientega regularly celebrates at the chaplaincy of the civil prison in Ouahigouya, where Masses and prisoner visits bring together Catholics, Muslims and Protestants. Bishop Kientega is delighted with the fact that a new project to develop the chaplaincy has just been approved by ACN, saying that “this pastoral presence nourishes many conversions”.
These three dioceses, situated in the north of the country, are overflowing with stories of courage. In Pibaoré, last August, the women of the parish formed a human shield to protect their priest, who was targeted by an attack during Mass. The Bishop of Kaya emphasises that “this heroic act was not picked up by the media, but it remains an important symbol of faith and solidarity”. Created shortly before the attack, at the height of the security and humanitarian crisis, the parish was short lived, as the population was forced to flee and its priest has since been living in Kaya.
The north of Burkina Faso remains one of the country’s most affected regions, even though there are signs of improvement. “To my knowledge, there have been no recent kidnappings in the two dioceses under my responsibility, but several attacks have caused dozens of deaths. It is, however, difficult to get reliable statistics,” Bishop Naré told ACN. In the Diocese of Dori, only two parishes remain open, Dori and Gorom, and the bishop can only reach them under military escort or by helicopter. In the Diocese of Ouahigouya, the parish of Thiou, close to the Malian border, is closed. “Overall, violence is not on the rise, but the situation remains difficult in the villages, where the Christian communities have largely been displaced to the towns where there is more security,” he says. In Kougoussi, a town of his diocese, and in Kaya, the population tripled in ten years.
Despite all this, the international community seems to ignore this crisis. “Either it knows and it doesn’t react, or it doesn’t act because it doesn’t know,” laments Bishop Naré. The dioceses lack the means to document the attacks, remind people of the urgency of international aid or pass on testimonies. Even the historic anniversary event at Yagma was not covered by the media. To amend this, two priests from Kaya are to be trained abroad in communication, with the support of ACN.
The Church tries to respond to essential needs: “food, shelter, medical care. It’s a question of survival,” Bishop Naré summarises. The needs are immense. The camps are full and there is no room for new families. The displaced people often come with physical injuries, illnesses and trauma and turn to the hospitals, the missions, the priests or directly to the bishop. Getting displaced children into school, helping catechists and seminarians, and providing psychological support are likewise crucial. A priest from the Diocese of Ouahigouya, trained in Kenya thanks to ACN, is supporting victims of trauma. Today he works on a rota with lay people. “ACN takes into account all the dimensions of the human person. We can only congratulate the benefactors and encourage them to continue,” says Bishop Kientega.
Finally, the Sisters of Our Lady of Lake Bam, a diocesan institute under the canonical supervision of Bishop Kientega, will be helped by ACN in 2026 to acquire a new house in Ouagadougou. This will provide a home for about 30 religious who have lost their foothold in the isolated villages of the dioceses of Kaya and Ouahigouya, which were at the heart of their mission.
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