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A frontline Diocese in Burkina Faso has Begun “Novena prayer for peace” Days after Series of Attacks, Including on Catholic Parish. Thursday, October 10 has been set as the start of “Novena prayer for peace” in Burkina Faso’s Catholic Diocese of Fada N’Gourma following a series of terrorist attacks targeting various facilities, including a Catholic Parish.

In a statement issued Wednesday, October 9, the Local Ordinary Fada N’Gourma Diocese, Bishop Pierre Claver Malgo announced the start of the Novena and expressed his “deepest sympathy” to all the bereaved as a result of the October 6 terrorist attacks in his Episcopal See.

On October 6, a series of attacks by armed groups took place in Northeastern Burkina Faso, in the country’s Gnagna province; the Catholic Church in Manni was attacked and a military patrol ambushed, resulting in the deaths of 17 soldiers, RFI reported. No official casualty report has been released yet.

In the October 9 statement, Bishop Malgo says, “It is with deep sadness that I address you following the barbaric attack perpetrated on Sunday, October 6 in the parish of Manni, in the northern part of our Diocese of Fada N’Gourma.”

“At this time of grief and mourning, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to all the bereaved families. While offering you our deepest condolences, we pray for the rapid and complete recovery of all those injured,” the Burkinabè Catholic Bishop says. He continues, “This tragic attack came on the eve of the day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world, a day desired by Pope Francis.”

In his October 9 statement, Bishop Malgo urges the people of God under his pastoral care to remain firm in their Christian faith and to intensify their prayers for peace, especially in the Eastern region of Burkina Faso, where violence has been recurrent.

“Let us intensify our prayers and supplications for peace in the world, in our sub-region, in our country, and particularly in our Eastern region,” he says.

He adds, “I invite all the sons and daughters of the Diocese to a novena of prayer for peace to Our Lady of Perpetual Help starting on Thursday, October 10.”

“Let us also pray for those who are fighting to recover the integrity of our territory in the face of these condemnable attacks,” the Catholic Church leader, who has been at the helm of Fada N’Gourma Diocese since his Episcopal Consecration in May 2012 says. He invites the people of Burkina Faso to “keep alive their hope for a better tomorrow.”

“May God convert hearts of stone into hearts of flesh and may Our Lady of Perpetual Help and the Rosary obtain for us from her Son, Jesus, a sincere and lasting peace. Let us remain united in prayer, faith, charity, and hope,” Bishop Malgo implores.

Burkina Faso has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks in recent years, which have left hundreds of people dead. In August, a terrorist attack in Burkina Faso’s town of Barsalogho reportedly claimed the lives of over 150 people and many others wounded. The August 24 terrorist attack, the third such incident in August and reportedly “one of the deadliest” in the history of Burkina Faso that has been grappling with Islamist terrorism since 2015, claimed the lives of 22 Christians.

According to an August 25 media report, residents of Barsalogho, a community about 30 km north of Kaya, the capital of the Centre-Nord region, were digging defensive trenches to protect themselves from terrorist attacks when more than 100 jihadists arrived on motorcycles and began firing automatic weapons at both civilians and soldiers.

An Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in West Africa known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack that injured at least 140 people.

In an August 27 report, the Catholic charity foundation that supports the suffering people of God across the globe, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, quoted local sources as saying that the number of the dead was so high that it was not possible to bury all the victims in three days.

On September 11, members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Burkina Faso and Niger (CEBN) called for a triduum of prayer for peace in their respective nations amid a surge in cases of insecurity.

Rev. Fr. George Nwachukwu
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