Silence in the media about Christians beheaded by Islamists in the Congo

@ElentirENG ES 2·05·2024 · 6:59 0

Africa is a continent in which Christianity is growing unstoppably, contrary to what is happening in Europe.

The 50 countries that most persecute Christians in 2024, with communism and Islam at the top
The images of the brutal Islamist massacre against Christians in Nigeria on Christmas Eve

The spectacular rise of Christianity in Africa

One year ago, a study by Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary estimated that there are currently 2,482 million Christians in the world, of which 1,268 million are Catholic. According to that study, in the year 2000 there were 561 million Christians in Europe. Today we are 566 millionbut the estimate is that in 2050 we will be 494 million, surely for demographic reasons (population decline) but also due to the growing abandonment of faith in the Old Continent.

In the so-called black continent, the opposite happens. According to the aforementioned study, in the year 2000 there were 384 million Christians in Africa; today there are 718 million. The forecast is that in 2050 there will be 1,286 million Christians on that continent. It so happens that Christians experience horrendous persecution in some African countries.

The persecution suffered by many African Christians

Currently, of the 50 countries that most persecute Christians in the world, 19 are African, according to data published by the Christian NGO Open Doors a few weeks ago. Of those 19, 5 are countries in which the level of persecution is extreme. I already spoke here about the case of Nigeria: in the last 14 years, 52,250 Christians have been murdered by Islamists in that country, most of the time without these massacres making news in the media. Western media.

Congo, a Christian country that suffers attacks from jihadist groups

Of the African countries where Christians are persecuted, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a special case. It ranks 41st among the countries where Christians suffer the most persecution, due to the proliferation of armed gangs (more than 100) that devastate that country, many of them committing all kinds of atrocities against Christians. In the Congo, 95% of the population is Christian: there are more than 93 million followers of Christ in that country, more than in any European country. The Congo is the second African country with the most Christians, only surpassed by Nigeria, and the seventh country with the most Christians in the world, according to Statista.

One of the armed groups that are attacking the Christian communities of the Congo is the Islamist terrorist group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which emerged in Uganda. One of the factions of this criminal group has links with the terrorists of the Islamic State (ISIS).

Christians beheaded by the ADF in Baeti-Vutchika

On January 31, Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd reported an attack by ADF terrorists against a Christian community in Baeti-Vutchika, beheading to eight people who were attending a religious celebration. According to that Congolese media, in March 2023, the ADF had already carried out a bomb attack against a church in the city of Kasindi, on the border with Uganda. In that attack, 15 people were killed and at least 17 others were injured. The attack was claimed by ISIS.

On February 1, Agenzia Fides reported on the murder of 32 people hands of the ADF in the Congo, in a series of attacks against villages between January 27 and 31, including the aforementioned Baeti-Vutchika attack. Additionally, on January 31, MEMRI, an organization dedicated to monitoring jihadist terrorism, reported that ISIS has claimed responsibility for the beheading of 50 Christians in the Congo.

The media silence in the West about these horrendous crimes

As usual, these massacres hardly receive media attention in the West, either because Africa is very far away and is not considered a focus of interest by many journalists, or also because there are many communicators who, for ideological reasons, feel great disdain towards Christianity and this imposes an increasingly evident bias in the selection and writing of the news. In Spain only The Debate, La Razón and Alpha and Omega have given news of what happened in the Congo. The leftist media has silenced what happened. Apparently, for these media, black lives matter as long as they are not Christians massacred for their faith in Africa.

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Photo: VOM International / Mission Network News. An archive photo of Christians from the Congo.