US Ambassador to the Vatican Brian Burch: Christians in Nigeria face ‘existential crisis’
U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch warned that Christians in Nigeria face an “existential crisis” amid ongoing persecution by Islamist terrorists, commending U.S. leaders for taking the threat seriously.
U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch warned that Christians in Nigeria face an “existential crisis” amid ongoing persecution by Islamist terrorists, commending U.S. leaders for taking the threat seriously.
“They’re literally being slaughtered by the thousands, sometimes hundreds per day, and this is being done by radical Islamic extremists,” Burch, co-founder of CatholicVote, said in a Nov. 5 interview on FOX News Channel’s “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
More than 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria so far this year, MacCallum noted during the interview. Since 2009, she added, more than 125,000 Christians have been murdered and more than 19,000 churches targeted or destroyed.
Burch said the Nigerian government “has a responsibility to protect its citizens” and that the U.S. “will not stand by and watch the slaughter of thousands of Christians.” He credited President Donald Trump for being “ready and willing to act” on behalf of those persecuted.
“We recognize that religious freedom is a cornerstone of human dignity, and this is a foundational element of our foreign policy,” he added.
Noting that the U.S. provided about $550 million in aid to Nigeria in 2025 and is considering a $346 million weapons sale, MacCallum asked whether that support should be tied to Nigeria “upholding basic American values.”
“This is exactly why this designation is so important,” Burch said, referring to Trump’s Oct. 31 decision to redesignate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act.
With the CPC designation, Burch said, “everything is on the table,” including foreign aid, weapons, sanctions, and even military action.
On Nov. 1, Trump announced that he had directed the Department of War “to prepare for possible action” if Nigeria fails to stop the extremist attacks.
“This is not an effort to try to isolate or threaten the Nigerian regime,” Burch told MacCallum. “This is an effort to call them to their responsibility that they have to their citizens, to protect people of faith, to protect religious minorities. This includes Muslims. By the way, there are peaceful Muslims in this country as well, but these Islamic extremists are weaponizing religion to justify terror, and it needs to stop right now.”
Asked about the Vatican’s response, Burch said Pope Leo XIV has urged prayer for Nigerian Christians and publicly mourned victims of a massacre earlier this year in which several hundred were killed in one day.
“The Vatican has sought to kind of reduce tensions here, to try to turn down the temperature,” he said. “They have pointed out that this has multiple causes. There's economic, there's fights over land, there's corruption, but there is no mistaking that Christians are being targeted because of their beliefs.”
