Boko Haram Archives

Pope ‘deeply saddened’ after church attack in Nigeria kills at least 11
- Global Church
- August 7, 2017
Following an attack at a Nigerian church, where gunmen opened fire against the faithful while Sunday Mass was being celebrated, killing at least 11 people, the Vatican’s Secretary of State sent a telegram to the local bishop saying that Pope Francis was “deeply saddened” to learn about the loss of life following the “violent attack in the Saint Philip’s Catholic Church.”
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At least eight dead in shooting spree during Sunday Mass in Nigeria
- Global Church
- August 6, 2017
“Tens” of people were either killed or injured in the early hours of Sunday morning in Nigeria when a shooting spree broke out at a Catholic church during the 6:00 a.m. Mass. Police sources stressed the incident was not carried out by the radical Islamic group Boko Haram, but was instead rooted in a local dispute.
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Knights, Aid to the Church in Need step up for persecuted Christians
- Global Church
- August 2, 2017
On Tuesday, both the Knights of Columbus and Aid to the Church in Need announced separate initiatives to aid the victims of anti-Christian persecution. The Knights pledged to raise $2 million to rebuild an Iraqi Christian town liberated from ISIS, while Aid to the Church in Need will give $82,000 to a Nigerian diocese to assist victims of Boko Haram.
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Central Africa: Catholic bishops call for interreligious dialogue as intolerance rises

Participants at a meeting of central African bishops this week recommended inter-religious dialogue as the way forward for the sub-region. They also reiterated claims that the death of Cameroonian Bishop Jean-Marie Benoît Balla was not a suicide, but that he was “brutally assassinated.”

Cameroon bishops: Bishop “did not commit suicide, he was brutally murdered”

Bishop Jean-Marie Benoit Bala of Bafia “did not commit suicide, he was brutally murdered,” the bishops in Cameroon wrote in a statement June 13, calling the perpetrators to justice. The bishop’s body was found in in the Sanaga River, but signs of torture on his body and preliminary autopsies indicate that he was killed.

Questions surround Cameroonian bishop’s reported suicide

The Catholic bishops in Cameroon have expressed their sorrow and concerns surrounding the unexpected death of one of the African country’s bishops, whose remains were pulled from a river June 2. While authorities have considered suicide, others suspect foul play.