Millions of Christians Under Islamist Assault, so Pope Francis Targets the Jews

Christians face persecution, discrimination, forced conversion and even mass murder for their faith in many parts of the Muslim world, yet Pope Francis’ in his new book calls for an investigation to see if the Jews are committing a “genocide” against Muslims in Gaza. The Jews are not committing genocide against the Muslims of Gaza, whose population grew almost 3% last year, but Muslims are committing mass murder via jihad against Christians in Africa. Yet the Pope cowers from defending his own flock.

Africa has become the epicentre of radical Islamic terrorism. Murderous jihad attacks against Christians abound in Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Niger, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cameroon.

The number of Christians intentionally killed, let alone tortured, raped, kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam, far exceeds the number of Gazans killed unintentionally as Israel directs its fire at terrorists who hide behind civilians. Indeed, Israel is defending its Jewish population from the very same jihadist assaults faced by African Christians.

Thousands of houses, shops or businesses belonging to Christians, churches or other Christian buildings such as schools, hospitals, and cemeteries in those African nations have been attacked, damaged, bombed, looted, destroyed, burned down, closed or confiscated by jihadists whose declared goals are to conquer and rule over Christian communities. According to a 2024 report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the number of African refugees, internally displaced persons, and asylum seekers grew by 14 percent over the past year—to more than 45 million people. There is no call from the Pope to investigate.

An abbreviated roll call illustrates the problem:

“Nigeria is the most violent country in the world for Christians. Every 2 hours, a Christian is killed in Nigeria,” according to Open Doors. Raids by jihadists are a common method to terrorize Christian communities in Nigeria. Christian women and girls are raped, forced into sexual slavery, kidnapped for ransom or murdered. Over 150,000 people (mostly Christians) have been murdered since 2009 by jihadist forces including Boko Haram according to a report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety). The Pope has not called for an investigation to see if jihadists and their sponsors are responsible.

Religious conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has led to approximately six million deaths since 1996. Escalating violence in the country has displaced around 7.3 million people. Congolese Christian women living in areas controlled by Islamic terrorists face violent persecution for their faith, including abduction, rape, trafficking, sexual slavery and forced marriage to Islamist fighters. They have not heard the Pope cry out.

In Somalia, al-Shabaab, an Islamist group has repeatedly expressed its desire to eradicate Christians from the country. If discovered, Christians in Somalia can be killed on the spot.

In Burkina Faso, Congo DR, and Central African Republic hundreds of Christians have been raped or otherwise sexually harassed by Islamists.

In Mali and Mozambique, hundreds of Christians have been physically or mentally abused for their Christian faith including beatings and death threats.

Christians in Mali’s Mopti Region are being ordered to pay crippling “protection tax” called  jizya by Islamist groups. Local Christian leaders are told refusal to pay will result in the seizure and closure of churches. The required jizya is more than half the monthly income of many families.

In April, in Niger’s Tillabéri region, Christians were ordered by jihadists to either convert to Islam, pay their jizya tax or leave their lands. In 2021, Islamist armed groups in that country murdered over 420 civilians and drove tens of thousands from their homes. Jihadists on motorcycles invaded civilian villages and towns burning and pillaging houses and granaries and murdering civilians including people with disabilities and numerous children.

In North Africa, too, Christians are being brutalized. In Egypt, Coptic Christians remain a target of persecution; hundreds of young women have been kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam, and coerced into marriage by Islamist men. Their latest victim is 21-year-old Julia Atef. Julia never made it to church on the morning of Saturday, October 26. No one has heard from her since she left her family’s home on the outskirts of Cairo, headed to a meeting at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church.

The Pope does not have a “Bring Back Julia” poster anywhere in the Vatican.

Meanwhile, Algeria, has closed dozens of Protestant churches. Of 47 churches only four remain and they are under intense pressure. At least eighteen Christians are facing prison sentences because of their religion. They include the Protestant Church of Algeria’s vice-president, Pastor Youssef Ourahmane, sentenced to one year in prison for having celebrated an unauthorized worship service. Has the Pope ever said a word about Pastor Youssef?

In Algeria, reported the European Centre of Law and Justice (ECLJ), “All Catholics who proselytize in any way are liable to criminal prosecution and deportation if they are not Algerian nationals.”

Christians face Islamist oppression outside of Africa as well. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, Hindus and Christians are murdered, kidnapped, raped, and forcibly married by Islamists, or unlawfully detained by police. Ahsan Raja Masih, a young Pakistani Christian, has been sentenced to hang for his faith over false “blasphemy” charges. The Catholic Bishops of Pakistan have recently joined the Christian community’s outcry against the death sentence. Where is the Pope?

In Iran, Christians are not allowed to worship or read the Bible in Farsi (Iran’s language) or have any contact with Christians who have converted from Islam. Conversion from Islam to Christianity is illegal; anyone caught as a convert can be arrested and imprisoned. In June, a Christian convert, Yasin Mousavi was given a 15-year prison sentence for “undermining national security and promoting Zionist Christianity.” Other Christian converts arrested last year include Hamid Afzali, sentenced to 10 years, Nasrollah Mousavi and Bijan Qolizadeh sentenced to five years each, Zohrab Shahbazi to nine months, and Iman Saleh to five years. There are no “Free the Christians” posters on Vatican walls.

Many more examples of Islamist persecution of religious minorities can be given from almost every majority-Muslim country.

Pope Francis is abandoning millions of Christians to Islamic barbarism. At the same time he supports the absurd proposition that Israel, forced to combat the scourge of Islamic savagery, is enacting the crime instead of fighting against it.

By turning reality on its head, his shameful defamation of the Jews complements his passivity in the face of Islamic jihad against Christians. Perhaps he believes that pointing a finger at the Jews will divert Muslim rage from the Vatican. Surely, it distracts the world from his own cowardice and failure to protect Christians.

Charles Jacobs is president of the African Jewish Alliance. Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist formerly based in Ankara. She is a senior researcher of the African Jewish Alliance.