The Vatican has released figures showing that within the last quarter century 626 Catholic missionaries and pastoral staff have been killed, with Africa and the Americas being the deadliest regions.
Last yr alone 17 were killed, with 10 priests, two seminarians, two catechists, two Sisters and one layman all losing their lives.
The figures, which were compiled by the Pontifical Mission Societies Agenzia Fides information service, showed Africa to be the deadliest continent last yr, with five deaths in Nigeria alone, two in Burkina Faso and one each in Kenya, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
The America’s were the second deadliest continent, with two nuns murdered by gangs in Haiti, a priest kidnapped and murdered in Mexico, and one other priest shot and killed in Kansas, US.
In Asia, a parish priest was murdered in the continued civil conflict in Myanmar and a teacher at a Catholic school was shot dead by unknown gunmen within the Philippines.
In Europe a single parish priest in Poland was murdered in an apparently unprovoked attack by a former policeman. No motive is understood.
Despite the tragic lack of life, Agenzia Fides figures suggest that deadly violence against Catholic clergy and pastoral staff has declined in recent times.
Since 1990 a median of 33 killings have taken place every yr, nevertheless this figure is inflated to a level by the 1994 Rwanda genocide, which accounted for the lives of 248 church staff among the many a whole bunch of hundreds of Rwandan victims.
Excluding 1994, a median of 26 church staff have been killed every yr since 1990. The last time that figure was exceeded in a single yr was 2019, when 29 church staff were killed.
The introduction to the report reads, “The annual list… doesn’t refer only to missionaries and pastoral staff ‘ad gentes’ within the strict sense, but considers the term ‘missionary’ in a broader context, encompassing all Catholics who were involved indirectly in pastoral works and ecclesial activities and who died violently, even in the event that they didn’t die expressly ‘in hatred of the religion’.”
The report, which also summarises the circumstances of those that died last yr, states, “The news concerning the lives and circumstances of those individuals’ violent deaths offers a glimpse into on a regular basis life in contexts often marked by violence, misery, and a scarcity of justice.
“These are sometimes witnesses and missionaries who voluntarily offered their lives to Christ until the very end.”
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