Islamists killed over 40 people in churches in Nigeria on Christmas Day, after making similar attacks last year.

St. Theresa Catholic Church, 25 miles from the capital, suffered the worst attack. A bomb tore a hole in the roof and ceiling of the church, killing 35 as Christmas mass was concluding. The blast shattered the windows of houses nearby.

“Mass just ended and people were rushing out of the church and suddenly I heard a loud sound ‘gbam.’ Cars were in flames and bodies littered everywhere,” said Nnana Nwachukwu to Reuters.

Boko Haram, a Taliban-like group with ties to al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Its name means “Western education is sinful,” and it wants to impose sharia law in the country. Rights groups say it has killed over 250 people since July 2010.

Bombs were also detonated in Jos—a town containing both Muslims and Christians that has been the site of previous bombings—and Gadaka. Witnesses reported that many were wounded in Gadaka and that a policeman was wounded in Jos. Some 1,000 people have been killed in religious and ethnic violence in Jos over the last two years.

“We are close to the suffering of the Nigerian church and the entire Nigerian people so tried by terrorist violence, even in these days that should be of joy and peace,” said Vatican spokesman Frederico Lombardi.

Christians are under attack across northern Africa and the Middle East. The attacks in Nigeria are so common that they barely make the headlines. Soon, however, the Catholic Church will stand up more forcefully, and the Islamists will provoke Europe to react.

For more information, see our article “How to Make the Pope Furious.”