In my experience, if you ask most newsroom managers and copy-desk pros to name the most important Christian holy day, the majority will say “Christmas.”
Actually, that’s the biggest holiday, from the perspective of the surrounding culture. The correct answer is Easter, the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now, here is a tricky question — one linked to yet another hellish massacre of Christians in the tense land of Nigeria. What holy day would be ranked No. 2 in the calendar of ancient Christianity?
There may some debates about this, but many historians will say it is the joyous Feast of Pentecost (click here for background material), which closes the great season of Easter. Hold that thought, because we will come back to it. Meanwhile, something very important is missing from the top of this Reuters report: “At least 50 killed in massacre at Catholic church in southwest Nigeria.”
LAGOS, June 5 (Reuters) — Gunmen attacked a Catholic church in southwest Nigeria during mass on Sunday, killing at least 50 people including women and children, according to a hospital doctor and media reports.
The gunmen shot at people outside and inside the church building, killing and injuries worshippers, said Funmilayo Ibukun Odunlami, police spokesperson for Ondo state. She did not say how many people were killed or injured at St Francis Catholic Church in the town of Owo but added police were investigating the cause of the attack.
Ondo state Governor Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who visited the scene of the attack and injured persons in hospital, described Sunday's incident as "a great massacre" that should not be allowed to happen again. The identity and motive of the attackers was not immediately clear.
The motive was unclear? Later, Reuters did note:
Nigeria is battling an Islamist insurgency in the northeast and armed gangs who carry out attacks and kidnappings for ransom, mostly in the northwest. In the southwest, attacks such as this are rare.
Now, back to the missing element of this story (and some others in the mainstream press). Would it help to know that this attack took place on the Sunday of Pentecost?
You can see a hint of the symbolism of the attack in this passage:
President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack, calling it "heinous", and the Vatican said Pope Francis was praying for the victims who had been "painfully stricken in a moment of celebration".
The pope was not talking about an ordinary celebration of the Mass. He was talking about a feast that — especially among the growing churches of Africa — would have special meaning and importance.
How important is Pentecost? This piece of an Ave Maria Press explainer will help. When ranking the great feast of Christianity:
… Easter would have the most importance. Easter is the day that gives meaning to our faith and distinguishes it from all others. …
Again ranking, Pentecost would be the second most important Church feast day. St. John Chrysostom said in the fifth century about Pentecost: “Today we have arrived at the peak of all blessings, we have reached the capital of feasts, we have obtained the very fruit of the Lord’s promise.” It was on Pentecost that the Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus, first came to the disciples.
Now, it isn’t hard to work this important fact into a story of this kind — as would be the case with any other act of terror timed to disrupt a major celebration in any of the world’s major religious faiths.
Consider this BBC report: “Nigeria Owo church attack: Gunmen kill Catholic worshippers in Ondo.”
Gunmen have killed an unknown number of church worshippers in Ondo state, south-west Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari said "only fiends from the nether region" could have done this "dastardly act".
The armed men entered St Francis Catholic church in the town of Owo and fired at the congregation during a service to mark the holiday of Pentecost, witnesses said.
That wasn’t hard, was it?
Now, both BBC and Reuters are clearly INTERNATIONAL news sources. Wouldn’t it help if stories of this kind were handled by editors who knew the basic facts of life in the world’s largest religious faith?
Just asking.
FIRST IMAGE: Icon from Santiago, Chile, featured in an article about icons and hagiography.