Terrorists kill a priest in Burkina Faso
IT WAS WITH “VERY DEEP SORROW” THAT BISHOP PROSPER BONAVENTURE OF DÉDOUGOU, BURKINA FASO, ANNOUNCED THE DEATH OF FATHER JACQUES YARO ZERBO. He was murdered Jan. 2 by “unidentified armed men,” according to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
According to the bishop, the attack took place in Soro (Gassan), in the northwestern Boucle du Mouhoun area, one of the regions most badly affected by terrorism in the country.
The priest’s funeral took place Jan.5, in the Cathedral of Saint Anne in Dédougou, capital of Boucle du Mouhoun. “Through the infinite mercy of God, may his servant Father Jacques Yaro Zerbo rest in peace,” the bishop wrote.
Born in Kolongo, Mali, Dec. 28th, 1956, Father Jacques Zerbo studied liturgy in Spain and taught in many seminaries and formation centers throughout Burkina Faso, making him well known by the clergy. “He taught with great passion, conviction, conscience and seriousness,” recalls Father Jacques, one of his former students at the major seminary of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Kossoghin.
Father Zerbo was ordained July 19th, 1986, in Dédougou. The diocese was only erected in 2000 and covers an area slightly smaller than Belgium. Only 18 percent of its close to 1 million inhabitants are Catholic. Inter-religious dialogue is one of the priorities for the diocese, which is invested in achieving a lasting peace for the country.
In recent years Father Jacques had been focused mostly on the difficult mission of helping young people at a center for addicts in Gouyèlè.
Another priest was murdered in recent years in Burkina Faso; Father Simeon Yampa was killed in Dablo, in 2019.
According to information gathered by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), at least 12 priests and five religious sisters were murdered worldwide during 2022 while fulfilling their mission. During the same year, 42 priests were kidnapped in different countries, 36 of them having been released. Three of the priests abducted in Nigeria were murdered and three other priests, from different countries, are still missing. ACN asks all friends and benefactors to pray for those who remain in captivity, as well as for the communities and families of those who lost their lives.
—Maria Lozano
