New figures released by the Vatican show that 626 Catholic missionaries and pastoral workers have been killed worldwide during the past 25 years, with Africa and the Americas emerging as the most dangerous regions.
The data, compiled by the Vatican’s mission information service, Agenzia Fides, shows that 17 church workers were killed last year alone. Those who lost their lives included priests, seminarians, catechists, religious sisters and lay members of the Church.
Africa was the deadliest continent in the most recent year recorded. Nigeria saw the highest number of deaths, followed by incidents in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Sudan. The Americas were the second most dangerous region, with two nuns murdered in Haiti, a priest abducted and killed in Mexico, and another priest shot in the United States.
In Asia, violence claimed the lives of a parish priest in Myanmar during ongoing conflict and a Catholic school teacher in the Philippines who was shot by unknown attackers. Europe recorded one death, when a parish priest in Poland was killed in an apparently random assault.
Despite the continuing loss of life, the overall trend shows a gradual decline in such killings over recent decades. Since 1990, an average of 33 Catholic workers have been killed each year. However, that figure is strongly influenced by the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, when 248 church workers were among the victims. When that year is excluded, the long-term average falls to around 26 deaths per year. The most recent year to exceed that level was 2019.
Agenzia Fides explains that its annual list includes all Catholics involved in pastoral and church work who died violently, even when their deaths were not directly caused by religious persecution. The report describes those who died as faithful witnesses who continued their service to Christ despite the dangers surrounding them.
