Displaying items by tag: 200 churches close

When the Burkinabe people gained independence in 1960, the motto ‘Unity, progress, justice’ embodied hope for them. Currently almost eighty ethnic groups embrace religious practices: earth priests, fortune tellers, healers, witchcraft, and animal sacrifice. Recently the president of the Episcopal Conference said that over 200 churches have closed in the north of the country to avoid attacks. If the world continues to do nothing, the result will be the elimination of a Christian presence. Muslims and Christians had enjoyed a peaceful coexistence. But this once-peaceful country has turned into a hotbed for extremism, and a long-held peace is under threat. Christians were specifically targeted in recent attacks. The violence has taken hundreds of lives (Muslim and Christian) and displaced tens of thousands more, as Islam rapidly spreads into nearly every ethnic group. Unreached peoples are steadily turning to Islamic teachings.