ACI Prensa Staff, 27 December, 2024 / 2:20 pm (ACI Africa).
Despite constant terrorist attacks suffered by Catholics in Burkina Faso from Islamic fundamentalists, vocations to the priesthood have increased in recent years, especially in dioceses located in “danger zones.”
Nearly 40% of seminarians come from these localities, which are the most affected by terrorism and violence.
According to the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), just at Sts. Peter and Paul Seminary alone, the number of candidates for the priesthood rose from 254 in the 2019-2020 academic year to 281 in 2024-2025.
Terrorist violence began to wreak havoc in the African country in 2019. Father Guy Moukassa Sanon, the seminary rector, explained that during the holidays not all students can return home. Doing so would mean “mortal danger,” so they are taken in by diocesan centers, by host families, or are simply invited by their classmates to spend the holidays in safer areas.
The rector recalled a third-year philosophy seminarian who ignored warnings and took a route forbidden by the terrorists to visit his father. He never arrived and was never found. His family is convinced that he was murdered. “Other seminarians have had narrow escapes,” Moukassa added.
