On Sunday, as so many of us Americans are able to attend church in peace and without persecution, we should always remember those Christians around the world who are not so fortunate and are unable to practice their faith without severe repercussions.
Two recent stories highlight two crimes that plague Christian communities in multiple African nations: abduction and murder. The main ideology fueling the violence against Christians in Africa is Islam, although sometimes the violence arises out of political disputes as well. It is not clear who murdered a zealous priest in the Central African Republic on June 29, but Islamic terrorists are certainly responsible for abducting the family of a pastor in Nigeria, which remains the deadliest country for Christians worldwide.
The martyred priest is Fr. Crépin Martial Monga, the late vicar of St. John the Baptist Parish in Zémio, which is in the Diocese of Bangassou. Fr. Monga was apparently very successful at bringing people to the faith, which could explain why he became a target. Back in 2024, Coptic Solidarity warned that “Islamic radicals” were wreaking havoc in the Central African Republic. Now International Christian Concern (ICC) has the story about Fr. Monga.
Whoever killed the priest also injured a parishioner who was with him and that individual’s ultimate survival is in doubt. The unidentified gunman or gunmen shot Fr. Monga in the head as he was driving to his parish residence.
[ICC] The day before the attack, Father Monga baptized 175 believers — 160 of whom were Christians from his parish who had been recently displaced because of ongoing violence.
In his final pastoral act, Monga spent the hours before his death with those he baptized along the banks of the Mbomou River.
Father Monga was active in regional peacebuilding efforts. He served on the Local Committee for Peace and Reconciliation, helping to promote dialogue, social cohesion, and reconciliation among those affected by violence.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for killing Fr. Monga.
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Like the parishioners of Fr. Monga’s parish, the Christians in Borno state, Nigeria, face constant threats for their faith. Pastor Moses Guguma was in Damasak, where his wife and three children were supposed to join him. Tragically, as the mother and kids were traveling on the Maiduguri-Damasak highway, Islamic jihadis—likely either Boko Haram or the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP)—kidnapped them, per ICC.
The pastor’s family was traveling in a commercial vehicle from Maiduguri to Damasak, where Pastor Guguma leads the congregation of the Church of Christ in All Nations (COCIN). The vehicle was stopped in the afternoon near a military checkpoint in Kareto village in Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno state.
“The gunmen ordered the pastor’s wife and her children to leave the vehicle but permitted the driver and other passengers to continue their journey because they are all Muslims,” an eyewitness told International Christian Concern (ICC). “They took the pastor’s wife and her three children to the bush, but the Nigerian army could do nothing. He said the place is close to a Nigerian Army checkpoint.”
The Nigerian military often faces criticism for not aggressively addressing terrorist threats. Pastor Guguma mourned, “My wife was sick. She just recovered, and she was discharged from the hospital, coming to my station to see me and continued the ministry. Pray for us. My wife is still recovering from the illness.”
Over six years, starting in 2020, the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa estimates that almost 30,000 Nigerian Christians died as a result of Islamic violence and religiously fueled persecution. That is genocide.
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