During the General Hearing of August 6, 2025, Pope Leo XIV requested prayers for Burkina Faso and Niger, countries where Christian communities have suffered an escalation of violence by armed jihadist groups.
The Pope expressed his proximity to the groups of young Catholics who arrived from both nations to participate in the jubilee of young people, in his greeting to the French -speaking pilgrims. “I want to reiterate my prayer for their countries,” he said.
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In addition, he encouraged them to “move on” and to be “pilgrims of hope” and “artisans of peace and reconciliation” when they return.
Fully aware of the difficulties involved in this task, the Pontiff urged them to persevere: “They have everything you need to prepare a better and more fraternal world.”
In recent years, the Christian communities of Burkina Faso and Niger have suffered an escalation of violence by armed jihadist groups that operate impunity in broad areas of the Sahel.
These groups, affiliated with Al Qaeda or the Islamic State, have especially put religious minorities, including Christians, with the aim of destabilizing coexistence and sowing terror.
In Burkina Faso, one of the most shocking attacks occurred on May 12, 2019, when an armed group broke out during the Sunday Mass in the Catholic Church of Lill, in the north of the country, killing the Siméon Yampa priest and five faithful. After the attack, the assailants set the temple, shops and other public buildings.
Just a week earlier, on May 5, six people – including a catechist – had been killed during a Marian procession in Zimtena. In other locations such as Toulfé, Titao or Sebba, Christian communities have been attacked and several closed or destroyed temples.
This country has been immersed for years in a violent drift due to the functioning of armed Islamist groups and the inability of the authorities to control a good part of the country. This gave wings to two coups in 2022. Last year, the catechist Edouard Yugbare was kidnapped in Burkina Faso.
In Niger, although the percentage of Christians is very small, they have also been the target of violence. With a 48.9 %poverty rate, it is one of the poorest nations in the world.
In January 2015, after the publication of Muhammad’s cartoons for the French weekly Charlie Hebdo, a wave of disturbances shook the country. More than 70 Christian and Protestant Christian churches – were set on fire or looted in Niamey and other cities. Since then, the pressure has increased in rural areas of the West, where extremist cells act with increasing aggressiveness, causing the closure of missions and the displacement of thousands of people.
Despite these threats, Christian communities in these two countries have not ceased their pastoral, educational and social work.
Victoria Cardiel
Victoria Cardiel is a journalist specialized in social and religious information issues. Since 2013, he has covered all the news of the Vatican for various media, such as the Spanish news agency Europa Press, or the weekly of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Alfa and Omega.