As the Catholic Church commemorates the 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees Sept. 29, Burkina Faso, “the world’s neglected crisis,” faces this reality: Over 2 million people, or 10 percent of the population, are internally displaced.
Burkina Faso regularly sees Christians persecuted and murdered, with the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need warning that “in only a decade, Burkina Faso has become an epicenter of terrorist violence, with over 40 percent of the country’s territory outside of government control.”
The Catholic Church there “is one of the institutions that provides material and spiritual support in this situation,” ACN said in its latest news release about Burkina Faso.
Pope Francis started the month of September by expressing deep sorrow over an August terrorist attack in the town of Barsalogho, where hundreds of people were killed and many others injured.
In extending his condolences to the families of the victims, the pope said, “I condemn these horrific acts against human life and stand in solidarity with the people of Burkina Faso.”
Over the past decade Burkina Faso has lept from one crisis to another. Since 2021, churches have been targeted and scores of worshippers killed. In February of this year, at least 15 people were killed and two others injured following an attack on a Catholic church in the northeast of the country. The authorities have been battling Islamist groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State, which have taken over large swathes of land and displaced millions of people in the Sahel region.
Attacks have increased in recent months. Over 300 civilians have been killed since May this year including at least 26 Catholics. At present, six of the 15 Catholic dioceses in the country are heavily affected by violence.
According to Open Doors, Burkina Faso is now the 20th worst country in the world to be a Christian, up from 33rd place a decade ago.
Father Waldemar Cislo, director of ACN Poland between 2006 and 2024, has spent the past decade on and off in West Africa and the Sahel region.
“The international community can and should do more,” he told OSV News days after he came back from Burkina Faso. “The high profile wars in Ukraine and Gaza are legitimate concerns but it does not need to be the case of providing support to one cause and not the other,” he lamented.
“It’s not about throwing huge quantities of money at the problem either,” Father Cislo said. “In Burkina Faso the equivalent of $10 can support one child’s education for a month.”
(OSV News photo/Zohra Bensemra, Reuters)
Domestic governments in the Sahel, including the military junta in Burkina Faso, are in a weak position to combat terrorism activity, especially because organizations long on Western lists of terrorist groups pay their members well.
“Burkinabe families are typically large in size. If someone can earn $30-50 per month by working in the agricultural sector or $200 per month by joining an Islamist organization, then the latter can seem a compelling proposition,” Father Cislo said.
However it is not just the dire economic situation that has driven civilians toward extremism, it has also been through the use of force.
Maria Lozano, press director of ACN International, knows the country well. Having last visited in 2020, she has seen firsthand the methods used for recruitment.
“Terrorists manipulate and indoctrinate young Muslims,” she said. “They arrive in villages on motorcycles, gather the people, and instruct them not to go to school, not to obey authorities, and compel men to grow their beards and women to wear the Islamic veil.”
It wasn’t always this way. Up until 2015, Burkina Faso was an example of a country where religious harmony prevailed in an otherwise volatile part of the world. A majority Muslim population lived in tandem with a significant Christian minority. Unsurprisingly and in more recent times, there has been an indirect correlation between the rise in attacks and a drop in church attendance.
In the Diocese of Fada N’Gourma, in the eastern part of the West African country, five parishes had to be completely closed and because of the danger of terrorism, priests are only able to minister to 5% of the villages in the parishes that remain open.
Where priests or bishops are unable to travel, catechists that fill the void.
“The resilience and dedication of the catechists is an example to us all,” said Lozano. “They lead Sunday services and visit the sick. They provide crucial support and help maintain faith practices despite the violence.”
Despite the turmoil, the proportion of the population identifying as Christian remains constant at 25%, ACN’s press director said.
“Many Christians have chosen to face death rather than renounce their faith,” Lozano said.
Father Cislo echoes these words. “Catholics in Burkina Faso are quite literally choosing to carry the burden of Christ on the cross.”
In July of this year and in a further example of the strength of faith exhibited by Burkinabes, two priests were ordained in the Diocese of Nouna.
Aid agencies continue to offer what support they can under challenging circumstances. ACN have been instrumental in helping to provide emergency pastoral spaces for displaced Christians, and radio projects that now serve as lifelines, offering communication and spiritual support even to those in the most remote areas.
The world however often turns a blind eye. The Norwegian Refugee Council said in June 2023 that “for the first time, Burkina Faso tops the list of the world’s most neglected displacement crises.”
“Neglect is a choice — that millions of displaced people are cast aside year after year without the support and resources they so desperately need is not inevitable,” said Jan Egeland, NRC’s secretary general.
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