This week in Christian history: Icelandic saint dies, Christmas bombings in Nigeria

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, December 22, 2024

Nigerian churches attacked in Christmas bombings – Dec. 25, 2011

Men look at the wreckage of a car following a bomb blast at St. Theresa Catholic Church outside the Nigerian capital Abuja on December 25, 2011. Two explosions near churches during Christmas Day services in Nigeria, including one outside the country's capital, killed at least 28 people amid spiralling violence blamed on an Islamist group. | Sunday Aghaeze/AFP via Getty Images

This week marks the anniversary of when Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist organization, launched a series of bombings against churches in Nigeria on Christmas Day, killing nearly 40 people.

The attacks hit multiple churches of different denominations in multiple places in the West African nation, with the deadliest blast occurring at Saint Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla.

“World leaders condemned the violence. The White House called it senseless terrorism, while a Vatican spokesman said the blasts were acts of ‘blind hatred,’” Voice of America reported at the time.

“United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said ‘no objective ... can justify’ the attacks. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the bombings were ‘cowardly’ and Italy's Foreign Minister Guido Terzi condemned them as ‘vile.’”

Open Doors, a persecution watchdog group, lists Nigeria as one of the worst places for Christians in the modern day due to terroristic violence and the influence of Sharia law in the northern part of the country.