Dablo, 22 July, 2023 / 9:24 pm (ACI Africa).
Many people no longer attend Holy Mass in Burkina Faso for fear of jihadist attacks, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Dori has said, and expressed his closeness with those who fear for their lives.
According to Bishop Laurent Birfuoré Dabiré, 50 percent of the West African country is occupied by terrorists, and many Catholic Parishes have been left abandoned as their members stay away for fear of attacks.
Commenting on the large number of Catholics skipping public worship in an interview with the Pontifical charity foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, Bishop Birfuoré says, “We understand them and do not ask them to go beyond their courage.”
He says that in Burkina Faso, terror is directed against all residents of the country “who do not profess the same Islam as the jihadists, including Muslims.”
Most notorious in the West African country, he says, is a jihadist group identified as “Support Group for Islam and Muslims”, which the Bishop of Dori says “is becoming clear that the actual goal is to oppress today's society, which is a multi-religious society of dialogue and coexistence.”
