They went from house to house. That is how survivors describe it, and it is how the Bible describes the night of judgment in Egypt, except that here there was no blood on the doorposts to keep death out.
In the space of five days, armed men killed at least sixty Orthodox Christians in two districts of Ethiopia's Oromia region, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church said on Monday 26 October. Fourteen died on 20 October in Merti district; forty-six more on the night of 24 October in three villages of Shirka district. Both are in the Arsi Zone of central Ethiopia. More than twenty people were seriously wounded, twenty homes were burned, and five of the dead, eyewitnesses say, were children.
The story was carried by Reuters, the Associated Press, the BBC, Al Jazeera and Vatican News. It was not mentioned by the leaders of Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Norway or Canada, a silence that one widely shared post on X set out name by name. Here is what is known.
Photo: Ethiopian Orthodox worshippers. AFP file photo via Al Jazeera.
What happened in Merti and Shirka
The church's Holy Synod gave the details. On 20 October, attackers killed fourteen people at Gora Silingo, in Angada kebele of Merti district. On 24 October, in the villages of Tereta, Chole and Birbo in Shirka district, they killed forty-six.
Survivors told the BBC's Amharic service and Vatican News how the second attack unfolded. It came overnight, between Saturday and Sunday. "We were completely unprepared and had no prior knowledge," said a resident whose 75-year-old father was killed. "They surrounded us from all four directions." Witnesses said the assailants went from house to house, killing with gunfire and knives. The elderly and children were among the dead. One church was reportedly damaged, and churches in neighbouring villages sheltered those who fled. A church official said security forces arrived but could not stop the assault.
The area is home to Muslims, Protestants and Orthodox Christians together. The dead were Orthodox.
What the Ethiopian Orthodox Church said
The Holy Synod called the killings "brutal and merciless massacres" and spoke of "extremely tragic cruelty and suffering inflicted on our citizens". It said the attacks violated the constitution's protection of life and freedom of religion and threatened Ethiopia's tradition of peaceful coexistence among faiths, and it warned that attacks on Christians have increased in recent months despite its repeated appeals to officials at every level of government.
The Synod called on the authorities to condemn the killings publicly, to protect civilians and to bring the killers to justice, and said it would seek talks with senior officials. It held prayers for the victims on Monday and directed Orthodox churches and monasteries around the world to pray for them after the Divine Liturgy on Tuesday.
Who is responsible
Nobody has claimed the attacks. The Oromia regional government's spokesman, Hailu Adugna, blamed the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), accusing the rebels and their allies of trying to provoke ethnic and religious conflict to distract from military losses in the north. He gave no evidence. The OLA, which the government lists as a terrorist organisation, could not be reached; its leader, Kumsa Diriba, known as Jaal Marroo, told the Associated Press in February that "our war is not against the people", though United Nations investigators have accused the group of killings, rapes and kidnappings.
The OLA is one of seven groups in a rebel alliance formed in September to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government, alongside the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the Amhara Fano movement. The Ethiopian Human Rights Council, a non-governmental body, reported in July that more than 430 civilians had been killed in targeted attacks across East Arsi since 2021, many of them members of the Orthodox Church, in attacks it described as religiously motivated. Eleven people were killed in a similar attack in the same area in May and June.
Some outlets have called this an Islamist attack. That claim rests on an anonymous social media post, and none of the agencies reporting from the ground, nor the church itself, has made it. Oromia's conflict has ethnic and religious strands tangled together, and Muslims in the region have been attacked too. What is established is that the dead were Orthodox Christians, that the church says they were targeted as such, and that nobody has yet been held to account.
Verifying anything in Oromia is hard. Amnesty International's researchers say internet blackouts and restrictions on independent media have hidden the extent of civilian suffering there, under both the rebels and government forces: "What we have been able to document now is just the tip of the iceberg."
The silence
Liza Rosen's post, shared tens of thousands of times, needed no commentary:
British PM Andy Burnham? Silent. French President Emmanuel Macron? Silent. Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez? Silent. Italian PM Giorgia Meloni? Silent. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz? Silent. Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin? Silent. Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre? Silent. Canadian PM Mark Carney? Silent.
As of Tuesday, none of the reports we have read records a statement from any of those governments, nor from Ethiopia's federal government. The reaction to the church attack in Karak, Jordan three days earlier, where a king spoke within hours and governments across the region condemned the killers, shows what is possible when leaders choose to speak.
Ethiopia is the oldest Christian nation on earth after Armenia, with a church that traces itself to the Ethiopian official baptised by Philip in Acts 8. Two-thirds of its people are Christians. Sixty of them were killed in their homes in a week for the faith they hold, and the world's capitals had nothing to say.
How to pray
- For the bereaved of Merti and Shirka, families who lost grandparents and children in one night: "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted" (Psalm 34:18).
- For the wounded and the displaced, and for the churches sheltering them.
- For the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, its Patriarch and Synod, that their appeal for protection would be heard and their people would worship without fear.
- For justice, that the killers would be identified and stopped, and for honest reporting in a region where the truth is hard to reach.
- For the attackers, that they would meet the Christ their victims confessed (Matthew 5:44).
- For the leaders who said nothing, that they would find their voice for Christians in Africa as readily as for anyone else.
Remember those who are mistreated, "since you also are in the body" (Hebrews 13:3). For more on believers paying a price for their faith, read about Liatu Samuel Dawa in Nigeria, and follow our News and Prophecy in the News sections.
Questions this article answers
What happened in Ethiopia's Oromia region in October 2026?
Armed men killed at least sixty Orthodox Christians in two attacks: fourteen on 20 October at Gora Silingo in Merti district, and forty-six on the night of 24 October in the villages of Tereta, Chole and Birbo in Shirka district, both in the Arsi Zone. More than twenty were wounded and twenty homes burned.
Who carried out the attacks on Christians in Oromia?
Nobody has claimed them. The Oromia regional government blamed the Oromo Liberation Army and its rebel allies without presenting evidence; the OLA has not responded but has previously denied targeting civilians. Claims that the attackers were Islamists rest on an anonymous social media post and are not made by the church or by agencies reporting from Ethiopia.
What did the Ethiopian Orthodox Church say?
The Holy Synod called the killings "brutal and merciless massacres", said they violated constitutional protections for life and religious freedom, warned that attacks on Christians have increased, and called on the government to condemn the killings, protect civilians and bring the killers to justice. It ordered prayers for the victims in Orthodox churches worldwide.
Have Western leaders responded to the killing of Christians in Ethiopia?
As of 27 October, no statement from the leaders of Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Norway or Canada had been reported, nor one from Ethiopia's federal government. A post listing their silence spread widely on X.
Why are Orthodox Christians being attacked in Oromia?
Oromia has been at war between government forces and the OLA since 2018, with other armed groups also active. The Ethiopian Human Rights Council documented more than 430 civilians killed in targeted attacks in East Arsi since 2021, many of them Orthodox Christians, in attacks it called religiously motivated; ethnic and religious grievances are intertwined, and Muslims have also been attacked.
How can Christians help?
Pray for the bereaved, the wounded and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church; share the story so the silence is noticed; and support organisations that document and assist persecuted Christians in Ethiopia. Hebrews 13:3 asks believers to remember those who are mistreated as though suffering with them.
Sources: the Associated Press (27 October 2026), Reuters, Al Jazeera (27 October), BBC News and BBC Amharic via Greek City Times (27 October), Vatican News (October 2026), the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and the X posts by @Reuters and @LizaRosen0000. Figures are the church's and were still being verified; we will update this article as the facts settle.