“The killing in Arbinda comes as armed groups have spread across the Shael region and committed atrocities in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. The United Nations reports that the violence has led to the displacement of at least 4.2 million people, 1 million more than in 2018.”
But it isn’t “Islamophobia,” so the world yawns.
“19 killed by gunmen in Burkina Faso: ‘There’s no Christian anymore in this town,'” by Samuel Smith, Christian Post, June 14, 2019:
Dozens of armed unidentified gunmen killed at least 19 and injured 13 others in northern Burkina Faso on Sunday.
A local government official told AFP on the condition of anonymity that the attack occurred between 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and that 19 bodies were found at the time. The official said a search was underway to find others who were killed.
Hours before the gunmen attacked, the source said the gunmen stopped three vehicles in the town of Arbinda and set them on fire. The official detailed that one of the drivers was killed.
The killing in Arbinda comes as armed groups have spread across the Shael region and committed atrocities in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. The United Nations reports that the violence has led to the displacement of at least 4.2 million people, 1 million more than in 2018.
In Burkina Faso, innocent lives are being lost due to the rise of jihadist attacks and government counterterror operations.
In April, more than 60 people were killed in an attack in Arbinda which has been hit hard by violence.
“There is no Christian anymore in this town [Arbinda],” an anonymous contact told the Christian aid charity Barnabus Fund. “It’s proven that they were looking for Christians. Families who hide Christians are killed. Arbinda had now lost a total of no less than 100 people within six months.”
Since 2016, armed Islamist groups linked to both al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Islamic State in Greater Sahara have been attacking civilian targets, police stations and military posts in Burkina Faso, according to Human Rights Watch.
Although the violence has spread throughout the country, the “epicenter” of the violence sits in the northern Sahel, a region that borders Mali and Niger.
Contacts told Barnabus Fund that as many as 82 pastors, 1,145 Christians and 151 households have fled from violence in different locations in the Muslim-majority nation…
observer says
I couldn’t read all of it.
This is so, so hard to bear.
I’m struggling with hatred.
I’ve become averse to hearing the muezzin call to prayer. No more bells to hear…
I’m finding I’m adverse to these people (… not something I suffered from whilst oblivious of this abysmal reality).
They pass me in a supermarket and my hackles rise.
The folk they are killing in Africa are such simple, genuine, generous,l people – and often very poor. I mean ‘very poor’. It’s just so horrendous.
bringing out in me a very dark side & I’m not called to hate… I feel so helpless.
Thank you Robert.
Hope you continue to improve.
Bob says
I fully understand, observer. Jesus tells us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-45), but they are making that an impossibility. I cant find it in my heart to “pray for those who persecute you), except maybe a bolt of lightning taking them out. I know that’s not what Jesus meant when he said this, but its all i can muster up.
Once again the “religion of peace” is showing us their true colours.
Shosh says
Bob, once when I was in New York and about to walk through a turn style to exit a building, I saw an elderly woman looking absolutely miserable standing there in the foyer. Instead of leaving, I stepped over to speak to her about Jesus. She stopped me mid-sentence with a very stern and hard voice saying: “This Jesus has not done anything for me except lie to me and give me nothing except more of the same worthless promises. So don’t talk to me about him.” I looked at her intently and told her that Jesus wants me to ask her a question. I paused and she nodded to continue. I said: “Jesus wants to know if you will forgive Him.” She started crying.
Rufolino says
How do you know that Jesus wants this woman to forgive him ?
I don’t recall anything in the New Testament about Jesus wanting us to forgive him for what our existence does to us.
This woman’s integrity is outstanding, in standing up for what she believes from her own experience.
I was stunned when a wise man once said to me years ago, “the crucifixion of Jesus is God’s apology to mankind”. But I see no evidence in the New Testament for this opinion.
Brian Ozzy says
Give me a break! You see someone obviously distressed about something so you have the temerity to go over and start bashing her ear about Jesus and talking as if you’ve just shared a beer with Him and have full authority to speak for Him. What utter ignorant pomposity and egoism! I’ve sadly met a lot of people like you that have the gall to talk religion at people as if they are on first name, buddy status with Christ. Extraordinary!
Shosh says
Brian, I know Yeshua far more intimately than a “bar buddy”. He is the sound of my own heart beat, the breath in my lungs and the voice in the night reassuring me with: “I’m right here.” when I awaken abruptly from a horrific dream. He is the love of my deepest longing, the Song of songs in the night that nothing can silence, the Light next to me when the storm knocks out all the power in the city. He is the painful longing of my spirit groaning with loneliness for the fulness of His presence. Once I asked Yeshua what do You see when You look at me? His answer was one word: “Desire”. Never have I known this fever of longing to be with anyone like I long to be with Yeshua. So yes, I do know His thoughts and how He thinks and He confides in me in ways I never imagined possible…His deepest longing He is willing to share with me and He gives me stunning responses to the smallest things I say…I saluted Him one morning saying “Orders Sir !” I was walking up an embankment and immediately saw a meteorite streak across the sky directly in front of me. How utterly beautiful He is. I ache for Him in the night like a Bride longing for her Bridegroom … come my Beloved and take me away with You, I am sick with love to be with You…Song of Songs 5:8
J D S says
“unidentified gunmen” Now who kills Christians just because they are Christian? muslims of course Call them what they are..uncivilized murdering Muslims. The main stream media uses words like “unidentified” “unknown” etc. The same world knows who these murderers are…too much political correctness has brought us to where we are today..Time to call these people what they are ….MURDERING MUSLIMS” Who else?
Lydia Church says
Jesus has nothing of which to ask forgiveness for, WE DO! He is God; holy and perfect, we are sinful and human and fallen. I don’t need to know what this woman has been through to know that. He forgives us (sometimes), not vice versa. I have been through hard times myself (so hard most would have done themselves in many times over), so yes, I am one to talk. Nowadays many are told false promises about God, twisted verses for the prosperity gospel. God is there to deliver us, but we have a responsibility too. Many get it wrong and then turn and blame God.
This is one of the heresies of the apostasy, the image of God crawling and begging humanity for a relationship with them. They get everything backwards, it is the lies of the devil repackaged for the apostate church, which work like a charm because they appeal to EGO.
There is so much blasphemy out there now I can’t stomach it anymore myself. One of the things I see so much of now is the “G-d” and Yeshua nomikers. We are English speaker, and we call Him JESUS!!! For over 1,000 years, English speaking people have used the terms “God” and “Jesus” to represent… well… God and Jesus! Obviously God and Jesus (who IS God), did not have a bone to pick with that since there have been revivals in the UK for centuries under that usage. (And in other nations and languages respectively). In every language people call Jesus slightly differently, in Spanish it is spelled the same but pronouonced “Hay-seus” in Italian and Greek it is also different. The New Testament by the way is written in GREEK, so uses the Greek term for Jesus. All obviously okay by God! I don’t care what early Jewish scholars did. People of every language call upon the name of Jesus and HE SAVES THEM! Guess what? He did not get all twisted about pronouncing His name just right, as some turn it into a Yaho-o-hu-o-shu-a tongue twister! It’s as bad as the Jehovah’s witnesses or even worse with that ‘the name’ issue! It has become a cult and goes by various names like Hebrew Roots, etc. Beware of it!
Marlene says
If SHE will forgive JESUS??? I get that you want to introduce her to Jesus, but false doctrine is NOT the way to do it!
Lydia Church says
And God does not have to ‘apologize’ to mankind, mankind has to apologize to God!
Jesus made a way for MAN to be forgiven! God [and thus Jesus] has nothing to be forgiven of or apologize for! THAT is what the cross was about! Ugh, the apostate false teachers of the apostate church twist everything backwards because they are the devil’s mouthpiece!
It’s so sickening! Just read your Bibles, that is where the truth is found!!!
Shosh says
Did you see how the woman reacted to His request ? Yeshua is the most humble Person you will ever meet. He was not admitting guilt here when He asked her to forgive Him. She immediately started to cry because she saw that though He was innocent, He became guilty for her so that she could come back to Him. He never changes. He will demonstrate His love over and over to each of us, in highly personal and deeply intimate ways until each one of us can see in His eyes that all He has ever wanted was to be with you closer than your own breath and have you respond with the same desire and love for Him. And that woman put her arms around Him that day and I know through tears He said to me, “Thank you for loving me.” This is my best Friend, the One Who holds me transfixed with a single glance, I cannot look away. Ever.
Shosh says
Have you ever been trapped in a “mindset”, a stronghold of thoughts that was forced on you as a child causing you to embrace lies as truth ? They really cannot see what slithers around their throats and legs imprisoning them in darkness and death. While we who know the lovingkindness of our compassionate and merciful G-d walk in the sweet contentment of HIS presence, they walk as blind men straight over the edge of a massive pit, the bottomless pit the Bible says, where they will never ever be free from horrific mental anguish and physical agony in a fire that never stops burning them. Time to set aside our personal feelings and think of the unspeakable future these people are surely going to experience if we who know Jesus do not step in front of them and point them to the ONLY ONE WHO can change their future forever. Let’s put them above our own temporary feelings and cause our Majestic G-d to smile HIS trademark smile and whisper in our ears, “Thank you for loving Me.”
Micheal Proulx says
They want to brand those who report on these atrocities promoters of hate, they are such hypocrites, their stench has reach heaven and they will reap their reward. Their silence is actually promoting hate and violence to thrive.
mortimer says
Response to observer: Thank you for your eloquent and honest words. In reply, Islam’s motive is HATRED. Allah hates the kafirs because they are ‘WRONG-WORSHIPPERS’ (mushrikoon) and because they call Mohammed a ‘false prophet’. So Allah wants Muslims to hate the kafirs-mushrikoon as much as he does. Muslims have been appointed by Allah not only to bring the kafirs under the discriminatory rule of Islam, but to punish them as well for their resistance to Islam.
ALL RESISTANCE TO ISLAM WILL BE PUNISHED NO MATTER HOW SLIGHT and IT WILL BE PUNISHED AS AN EXAMPLE TO OTHERS and the punishment will be EXCESSIVE.
This is how Muslims react to those who RESIST ISLAM and the reaction is GREATER when the cowards have greater numbers.
Don’t let Muslims into your country. They will eventually attack and destroy the indigenous people and try to wipe them out. They do this every time and every place they go.
This hate is the will of Allah.
somehistory says
observer
I cannot claim to know exactly how you feel as each person can only be in their own mind; but I can say that I come really close this time. I find myself angry each time I read such as this or hear of it.
When i pray, I ask that God bring His Kingdom and do His Will on earth as Christ instructed us. I also pray for those who love Him to be rescued from this wickedness and evil before all perish. And for all to be forgiven for falling short of what He commands us.
These people are blinded by satan…and some will possibly have their eyes opened to the truth of what they are doing; however, most of them will face the Judgment that will mean it’s the final end for them and they will go down cursing God. This we can learn and discern from many Scriptures from Genesis thru to and including Revelation.
Those who love evil will never repent and change course. We cannot read their hearts, but our God and His Son can and do as well as those who wish to be something better than they are. All we can do is our best in our service to God. He only expects our best. And forgives us the rest.
Marlene says
Many who love evil have repented and converted! I pray for all that you do and also for the Spirit to speak to the hearts of Muslims, for their conversion, and for the salvation of their souls. I believe in the power of prayer and think that people praying for them in this manner will have an effect, if even one soul is saved.
somehistory says
Marlene
I have to disagree. If they are hardened in the way of evil, they don’t repent and change. There has to be a measure of good in a person for them to want to “seek” God so as to “find Him.” We are commanded to “hate what is bad.” We can’t love evil and still worship the True God.
Also, you commented to another that we must “emulate” Jesus Christ. We must do our best to imitate Jesus, but the full meaning of “emulate” is to “match or surpass”…in other words, do as well as, or better…and that is not possible as He is Perfect and we are imperfect. We can never do what Jesus did, and esp never can we do better than our Savior and Lord.
Joe says
Observer, Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life. You are following the Way, but you also need to practice the Truth which you do by understanding Islam and calling it out. For example, John the Baptist did not shrink from talking about the adultery of Herod.
Jesus expects us to participate in our own salvation. We are supposed to pick up our cross and follow Him. We can’t do that unless we cling to the Truth. The world has the ability to correct Mohammed, but it doesn’t have the will to do it, for whatever reason.
By clinging to the Truth, you change the will of the world.
Yes, we are supposed to turn the other cheek, but we are also supposed to defend the weak. Are we following Christ when we allow Muslims to murder the women and children or when we pay for their welfare while they waddle in sloth? If Muslims do not accept the Truth, we are to shake the dust from our feet in testimony against them. We certainly are not allowed to let them stomp out the Way, so that Christ is absent in our world.
It is not enough to defend against it; Islam is to be confronted and rejected. That can be done in many ways, but it must be done if we our Christian. Deus Vult!
Marlene says
Right! So often we think about Jesus as “meek and mild,” but now is the time we need to emulate the Jesus that drove the money changers out of the temple. He strongly confronted evil and we need to too.
Abide In Christ says
Dear Observer,
Begin fighting in the Spirit, take Authority in Jesus name. Say, THE LORD REBUKES you satan” as you are led. We weep with you brother and we Stand in Life with you. We pray that these Muslim people will have dreams of Jesus and that Jesus makes Himself known to them quickly. We pray you set them free from Satan and there darkness the abide in so they will LOVE GOD and their neighbour as THE LORD SAID. We pray OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN we beseech you – turn these men from hate to your Heavenly Love in your Son. Amen and Amen.
Observer, the Angels are on Alert. We bless these Muslim’s with The Light of God that darkness will flee in the Mighty name of Yeshua/Jesus!!! And for a deep seated Peace of The Lord deep within your soul, and a flood of Love covers you thick, see in Yeshua’s Eyes, and watch the Darkness flee. Our Father in Heaven give our dear Brother a Song in his heart of Hope and Endurance that only you can give him. In Yeshua’s Name. Amen.
abad says
Observer:
You have now given me a new proverb to live by:
Moslems want to kill the people who want to convert you.
My “old” proverb still stands:
Christians want to convert you.
Moslems want to kill you.
Lydia Church says
“When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony. They shouted to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?” Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters—their fellow servants of Jesus who were to be martyred—had joined them.” Revelation 6; 9-11
This is where we are in the prophetic timeline.
The ‘fellow servants’ are those of us in the West.
The scroll has been written and it will be fulfilled.
Jesus told us these things would happen. We need to stay informed by the intake of reality. Too many nowadays prefer to lull themselves to sleep on worldly entertainment and draw the blinds closed regarding what is happening to fellow Christians all over the world. Those are the ones who will be caught off guard when it knocks on their door. It is not pleasant work. But it is our calling as His servants at this time in history.
Pray for the persecuted church. Pray that the church in the West will stand strong. We are on the battlefronts while so many are sleeping.
Pray for your enemies and those who persecute us. THAT is what makes us better than them.
Everything Jesus told us is true, and the Holy Spirit gives us the power to carry out His will.
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.
PRAY FOR THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU.
DO NOT REPAY EVIL WITH EVIL BUT WITH GOOD.
It may seem counter intuitive regarding our natural responses.
But therein lays the very power of God.
LOVE CONQUERS HATE
LIGHT OVERCOMES DARKNESS
Hate and darkness do not do this, they only add to it.
Yes, there is a time for self defense of course.
Just let the Holy Spirit lead you.
We will be persecuted as part of His body.
Jesus did not retaliate or fight back on the night of His arrest.
To the contrary, He healed the ear of one of the arresting army.
Many martyrs went out in the same way.
But that is how the church was born and grew, not the opposite.
It’s very complicated to explain and most of it is spiritually discerned.
These are difficult times for sure and they will only get worse.
PRAY for the Holy Spirit’s leading in everything!
May God’s love be with you and guide you!
Lydia Church says
And many forget how much of this is spiritual warfare. You can’t defeat an enemy when you don’t know where he is or what his tactics are. See Ephesians 6. Prayer is key to stay strong!
Nicu says
merkels fave African country – I wish she would stay there for good !
Ravi says
These Muslim motherfuckers
Abide In Christ says
Pray that Jesus makes Himself known to them in Dreams and Visions to remove them from Darkness and into The Light of God. We pray also Heavenly Father. In Your Son’s name, Amen.
CRUSADER says
AMEN
+ + +
Jean Terry says
It is so sad. I would not know about these things without Jihad Watch. I think this should be reported on every network. Each incident should be reported so people finally know about it. I understand observer above. As a Christian I am called to love, but sometimes it is a struggle for sure. It makes no sense for people to kill other people for no other reason that they practice a different religion.
Rufolino says
They aren’t killed for practising another religion.
They are killed because they are NOT practising Islam.
OLD GUY says
100% correct, and we non muslim need to remember it. You can not trust a Muslim, their religion teaches them to deceive, enslave or kill all non MUSLIMS.
observer says
Jean Terry
As a Christian I am called to love, but sometimes it is a struggle for sure. It makes no sense for people to kill other people for no other reason that they practice a different religion.
……………………….
True Jean…
I cannot recall exactly when, last year, I chanced upon a book on the internet, entitled +Son of Hamas+ which spoke of the journey of one Mosab Hassan Yousef (…the son of one of the 7 founders of the terrorist group +Hamas+. This book opened my eyes and precipitated the start of what would become a radical shift in consciousness. Before that I had once participated in a muslim protest against the Jews (…may God and his Jewish people forgive me) for the horror they were inflicting upon the “poor, innocent, hard-done-by people of Palistine’. Never. ever. again. will. I. do. such. a. thing.
After that I slowly but very surely discovered more and more about reality that cemented my turn-around from a state of sweet sleep. The more I have been exposed to this horror – this lying, murderous ideology – the more it has come to feel as though I dwell in the very realms of hell itself. ?
I can only imagine the suffering caused by islam – e.g. upon the African people of Burkino Faso and so very many others around the world… Never will I forget 9/11, the images of which live with me and caused PTSD in me, 1000s of miles away.
Yet……… even after 9/11 it was to be many years before reality dawned on me. Thanks in great part to Robert S. who pays a heavy price for the sharing of his own very sharp awareness. Robert – a singular man with God-given strength and tenacity.
Last night a had a meltdown when my anger surfaced and I yelled at God, which I’m sure he understands. I don’t believe there is any such thing as bad prayer. I believe God understands exactly where we come from & what we’re about. I called to Him for some very radical action of his own… in these circumstances.
Blessings and strength to you and everyone on JW ….especially the scribes. Never forgetting the dead and injured and their families.
E&OE
Abide In Christ says
Unfortunately their Allah, aka Satan, has told them to. Pray that God makes His Son known to them in Dreams and in Visions of His rebuke and Salvation. We Stand with you!!!
From, Texas.
Aussie Infidel says
The United Nations report uses words like ‘insecurity’ and ‘violence’, but not once does it refers to ‘Muslims’ or ‘Islamic jihad’. I wonder why?
roberta says
“Ethnic violence” “Tribal violence” But never muslim violence.
mortimer says
It is religion-inspired violence.
Abide In Christ says
Yes, it is Satan is work. Pray that Yeshua reveals Himself in Dreams and Visions to Heal their souls.
Prabh says
There is reason uno is known as JewNO.
Off Topic: Sweden recognizes Palestine
And Khalistan declared April 1986.
Chores to do this fine Saturday, so no more comments for a while.
The mess in the not so sweet Levant has made life hell for the Commonwealth. FYI caste system is like a Commonwealth but mudrace Hinduism is very different from RigVedicReligion.
more later.. I seek a crime free world. Hi-crime cities r de facto war zones.
I wish SJW snowflakes would comprehend that social justice occurs naturally after everyone is fully Enlightened, selfactualized and Selfrealized.
Angry protests r mostly counterproductive. Talks and Negotiations needed to create sane world that is a zero crime society. Visionary leadership is required as well as goodwill and best of intentions from all citizens.
It is easy to say let’s all just get along but the fact is everyone is different and sometimes there are personality clashes, even when full enlightenment has been attained. Basic disposition different for all due to starry body (moon ascendant) being different. Even twins have different horoscopes.
Harvard educated astrologist Noel Tyl states that in his career as an astrologist only one person defied astrological analysis: an American USA negroidal. Probably admixture of 30 percent Caucasian dna * something to ponder..
RabRakha108
mortimer says
Prabh, what kind of anti-Semitic fascist are you? What street drugs are you taking? If not, why did you stop your meds?
gravenimage says
More ugly babbling from Prabh:
There is reason uno is known as JewNO.
………………………….
What is “uno”? Who knows–but this is clearly more antisemitic claptrap.
More:
Off Topic: Sweden recognizes Palestine
And Khalistan declared April 1986.
………………………….
Doesn’t Prabh know that Sweden is being overrun by violent Muslims? I guess so…
More:
Chores to do this fine Saturday, so no more comments for a while.
………………………….
Does he have to polish his Nazi memorabilia?
More:
The mess in the not so sweet Levant has made life hell for the Commonwealth. FYI caste system is like a Commonwealth but mudrace Hinduism is very different from RigVedicReligion.
………………………….
More ranting against civilized Jews and Hindus–just appalling.
By the way, most Sikhs are the same ethnically as are Hindus. Most Sikhs, thankfully, don’t think like this.
More:
more later.. I seek a crime free world. Hi-crime cities r de facto war zones.
I wish SJW snowflakes would comprehend that social justice occurs naturally after everyone is fully Enlightened, selfactualized and Selfrealized.
Angry protests r mostly counterproductive. Talks and Negotiations needed to create sane world that is a zero crime society. Visionary leadership is required as well as goodwill and best of intentions from all citizens.
………………………….
How will any of this work with violent supremacist Muslims?
More:
It is easy to say let’s all just get along but the fact is everyone is different and sometimes there are personality clashes, even when full enlightenment has been attained. Basic disposition different for all due to starry body (moon ascendant) being different. Even twins have different horoscopes.
………………………….
What tosh–this is not about race or horoscopes, but about character and ideology.
More:
Harvard educated astrologist Noel Tyl states that in his career as an astrologist only one person defied astrological analysis: an American USA negroidal. Probably admixture of 30 percent Caucasian dna * something to ponder..
………………………….
I find astrology fairly silly, but Noel Jan Tyl seems like a decent enough person–I can find *no* record of his ever having said anything so racist. Citations, or this is just calumny.
CRUSADER says
Left attacks first lady over reciting ‘The Lord’s Prayer’
Rev. Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell Jr. react to the outrage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeDVOP-GOUI
mortimer says
Melanija is a deeply Christian person. A role model of humble faith.
Battle says
“oberver” Bob is right. Also, easier said than done, but keep praying. Repeatedly numerous times I have been driven to bad prayer. Please ask your Christian friends if they understand pushed to bad prayer. The first two I asked I was surprised how much they understood all to well.
Walter Sieruk says
Those Muslim murdering Christians, as in those specific cases revealed in this above top main article of this site . So such brainwashed Muslims hate Christians so much that they even become violence against them and burn their Bibles. One reason for this is that in the mosques and madrasas the Muslim clerics, as the imams who speak many awful and unproven terrible things against Christians and Christian doctrine. So much so the many Muslims get all worked up against Christians and Christian teachings and some those Muslims commit violent actions against Christians. Such false religious teachers, as those Muslim clerics, who speak to people unfounded and invalid evil things about Christians and Christian doctrines.
Nevertheless, In spite of the Islamic mind programming they have been subjected to by their imams those violent and vicious jihad –minded Muslims in their murderous persecution of Christians, such Muslim who have murdered Christian will have to answer to God for their violent and deadly actions, Romans 14:12.
Furthermore, the Bible informs it’s reader that each individual Christian is actually, in the View of God, a temple of God. For to Christians, it is written in the Bible “Don’t you know that that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s Temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” First Corinthians 3:16,17. [N.I.V.] As in “A man reaps what he sows.” Galatians 6:7.
Battle says
Jean Terry Agree this should be reported on every network.
CRUSADER says
“Christendom” will continue to have its challenges….
But it depends (as usual) on the many little people to uphold The Church….
—————————————————————————————————–
As Notre-Dame holds its first mass Saturday since a devastating fire two months ago, billionaire French donors who pledged hundreds of millions for rebuilding have “yet to pay a penny”, a spokesman for the cathedral said.
Instead, the funds paying for clean-up and reconstruction are coming mainly from French and American citizens who donated to church charities like the Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris. Those charities are helping pay the bills and the salaries of up to 150 workers employed by the cathedral since the April 15 fire destroyed its roof and caused its iconic spire to collapse.
“The big donors haven’t paid. Not a cent,” André Finot, a senior press official at Notre-Dame, told AP on Friday. “They want to know what exactly their money is being spent on and if they agree to it before they hand it over, and not just to pay employees’ salaries.”
Less than a tenth of the hundreds of millions promised has been donated, the French culture ministry said Friday. Only €80 million of the €850 million pledged has been handed over – and most of that has come in small sums given by ordinary people.
The cathedral’s vaulted roof “could still collapse” at any moment, Culture Minister Franck Riester warned Friday, as he confirmed the slow pace at which pledges were turning into cash.
Almost $1 billion was promised by some of France’s richest and most powerful families and companies, some of whom publicly sought to outbid each other in the days after the inferno. The pledges prompted criticism that the donations were as much about the vanity of the donors as the restoration of a cornerstone of France’s cultural heritage.
François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of the Kering company that owns Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, promised €100 million. Not to be outdone, CEO Bernard Arnault of rival luxury giant LVMH – which ownsboth Louis Vuitton and Dior – pledged €200 million, as did the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation of the L’Oréal fortune. French energy company Total also pledged€100 million.
The spontaneous pledges prompteda backlash in France, which has seen months of Yellow Vest protests advocating for struggling workers.Many questioned why these corporations could not mobilise similar funds in the service of larger causes, liketackling income inequality or climate change.
But none of that money has yet been received, according to Finot, as big-time donors wait to see how the sometimes controversial reconstruction plans take shape.
A spokesman for the Pinault Collection acknowledged that the family hadn’t yet transferred any money for the cathedral’s restoration, blaming that on a delay in contracts.
“We are willing to pay, provided it is requested within a contractual framework,” said spokesman Jean-Jacques Aillagon.
The LVMH Group and the Arnault family said in a statement that they were signing an agreement with the Notre Dame Foundation, a partner group to the cathedral, and “the payments will be made as the work progresses”.
Total has pledged to pay its €100 million via the Heritage Foundation, whose Director General Celia Verot confirmed that the multinational has not paid anything yet. She said donors are waiting to see what the plans are and if they are in line with each company’s particular vision before they agree to a transfer of money.
“How the funds will be used by the state is the big question,” Verot said. “It’s a voluntary donation, so the companies are waiting for the government’s vision to see what precisely they want to fund.”
The Bettencourt Schueller Foundation said that it, too, hasn’t handed over any money because it wants to ensure its donation is spent on causes that fit the foundation’s specific ethos, which supports craftsmanship in art.
Culture Minister Riester said the shortfall is due to two factors. “First, you might have people who promised to give but who in the end won’t,” he said.
“But mostly – and this is normal – is that the donations will be handed over as the work advances.”
Riester said his officials were working with the major donors and the four French foundations that launched appeals for Notre-Dame. His ministry stressed that the biggest donors want to know when and how their money will be spent.
Olivier de Challus, one of the cathedral’s chief guides and architecture experts, said one of the reasons the major French donors haven’t yet paid is that there are still so many uncertainties about the direction of the reconstruction. He said architectural experts are using digital models to try to establish how much damage the fire did to the cathedral’s 13th-century stone and whether its structures are fundamentally sound.
De Challus said the bulk of the funds won’t be needed until the rebuilding is further along.
“It doesn’t matter that the big donors haven’t yet paid because the choices about the spire and the major architectural decisions will happen probably late in 2020,” he said. “That’s when the large sums of money will be required.”
The reality on the ground is that work at Notre-Dame has been continuing around the clock, and the cathedral has had to rely in part on charitable foundations to fund the first phase of reconstruction.
The Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris is transferring a first cheque of €3.6 million ($4.1 million) for the “first stage of reconstruction”, according to the group’s president, Michel Picaud.
He estimated that 90 percent of the donations the group has received have come from American donors. Indeed, Picaud just returned from a fundraising trip in New York.
“Americans are very generous toward Notre-Dame and the monument is very loved in America. Six out of our 11 board members are residents in the US,” he told AP.
To raise funds, the Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris and the French embassy in Washington, DC, organised concerts in several US cities. Notre-Dame’s chief organist, who was playing in the cathedral when the fire broke out, gave the first concert at the Catholic basilica in Washington, DC.
“Notre-Dame is the world’s church … it’s iconic for the entire world,” Walter Rossi, the basilica’s rector told FRANCE 24. “You can see it in the outpouring of affection, concern and finances.”
The Notre Dame Foundation has received €15.7 million so far, “essentially thanks to 41,000 individual donors”, the foundation’s Christophe Rousselot told the Catholic news website Aleteia. “Cheques and bank transfers of an average of €200. These are beautiful gestures.”
This foundation is also expecting the €300 million pledged by the Pinault and Arnault families.
“For these major donors, we are in the process of drafting agreements with staggered payments planned based on future work. There is no doubt that these generous donors are standing with us and are extremely reliable,” said Rousselot.
While the billionaire donors delay, workers at the cathedral face the epic task of cleaning up the lead poisoning that has become an issue for the Parisian island on which Notre-Dame is located. An estimated 300 tons of lead that made up the cathedral’s roof melted or was released into the atmosphere during the fierce blaze, which sent out toxic dust. The city’s health agency says high levels of lead are now present in the soil of Île de la Cité and in nearby buildings. It has recommended that all pregnant women and children under 7 living nearby take blood tests for lead exposure.
(FRANCE 24)
gravenimage says
Yes–Americans love Notre Dame and have donated very generously. The first mass was just held there since the fire.
Rufolino says
And still there is complete silence on the cause of the fire.
Rolf Wittwer says
What about the Vatican?
CRUSADER says
The Vatican is to have Islamic Warriors’ horses drink from a watering trough at the alter of St Peter’s…. apparently….
gravenimage says
Burkina Faso: Muslims murder 19 Christians, injure 13 others — “There’s no Christian anymore in this town”
…………………
*Horrifying*.
observer says
gravenimage
Burkina Faso: Muslims murder 19 Christians, injure 13 others — “There’s no Christian anymore in this town”
…………………
Yes.
*Horrifying.*
Eric Jones says
The Christian world does not realize that it is under threat.
Eric
gravenimage says
This is largely true.
tedh754 says
Whenever I read something like this, it just reinforces my belief that I could never convert (or revert, as those degenerates believe) to islam, because I’m not as psychopathic killer. If the day came that I no longer believed in Jesus as Divine, I’d convert to Judaism.
IanB says
The usual condemnations from Christian leaders including Pope Frankie Boy …
… tumbleweed … @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ …
WPM says
It does not fit” Pope Frankie Boy ” profile as a SJW to condemn Jihadist killing Christians because of their faith. He is too busy worry about the” globular warming ” or the” west decadent lifestyle” as he hangs out in his walled palace guarded 24/7 his lifestyle provided by donations from Christians .He cannot wait for the next photo shoot when he can wash the feet of some pagan moon god worshippers on one of their pagan holidays. Kiss some more butts as the pagans point them at the sky in praying in loud cat walling cries ,make them a easy target for him to kiss . He will have a lot to answer for when God calls him home ,and asks him what he did to protect or even speak up when violent thugs were killing his children.
WPM says
If you are a leader the first order of business is to protect your followers as best you can ,not to appease the people who are killing your followers .Be that position as a general , Pope, President ,or P.M. Their is no future in appeasement if it is really leading to suicide of your culture, power and way of life. The western leaders better get on board about what is needed to protect their citizens or they will find the road of appeasement leads to losing their heads or the heads of their children in the near future.
Rolf Wittwer says
Is it really impossible to Secret Services, to find out, to locate and destroy by force and for good, those bloody messengers of Satan and their hideouts?
Communicationsatellites and many other available methods to get informations about them should consequently be used to end such endless and under “Allah” ongoing massacres.
Probably some collaterally damage could happen, but at least it could be finished.