Bishop Barron disputes NYT report on Christians killed in Nigeria

Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester said March 31 that violence against Christians in Nigeria reflects a pattern of religious persecution, disputing a The New York Times report that described the killings as driven largely by criminal activity.

In a March 31 post on X, Bishop Barron backed Republican West Virginia Rep. Riley Moore, a Catholic, after the Times criticized Moore’s claims about the killings. Bishop Barron wrote that “to suggest, as the New York Times does, that these attacks are not motivated fundamentally by anti-Christian animus is simply absurd.”

In the post, Bishop Barron also questioned the outlet’s characterization of a recent Palm Sunday attack as unrelated to religion, writing, “I suppose the editors of the paper of record feel that it was just an odd coincidence that a purportedly ‘tribal’ and ‘economically motivated’ assault took place on Palm Sunday.” 

As Zeale News previously reported, at least 30 people were killed in Ungwan Rukuba, a community in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state, during the Palm Sunday attack. 

“Anyone who studies these murders, that have taken place over many decades, and fails to see an anti-religious pattern is blind,” Bishop Barron wrote. 

The comments came after the Times reported that Moore and other U.S. lawmakers have “falsely claimed” a Christian genocide is taking place in Nigeria. The newspaper claimed that according to analysts “the situation in the country is much more complex and that Nigerians of many faiths have been killed.” The Times report also stated that much of the violence is driven by criminal groups rather than primarily religious or ethnic tensions.

Moore, in a March 31 post on X, criticized the report, calling it “a new low” and accusing the newspaper of ignoring targeted attacks on Christians. He said the recent violence near the city of Jos was carried out by “radical Islamic terrorists against peaceful Christians.”

“Here’s what I would have said if you asked for comment,” he wrote. "How many more Christians need to be slaughtered by Muslims, particularly on holy days, before the failing New York Times acknowledges that Christians in Nigeria are being massacred for their faith in our Lord and Savior? It’s pretty obvious if you aren’t trying to pass your radical political agenda off as news."