20 Catholic Missionaries Killed In 2023 Amid Massive Anti-Christian Attacks
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
VATICAN CITY/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – At least 20 Catholic missionaries lost their lives across the world through violent death this year, two more than in 2022, a new report shows, highlighting broader concerns about global attacks against devoted believers.
The data released by the Vatican’s Fides News Agency and monitored by Worthy News on Friday showed that “one bishop, eight priests, two men religious, one seminarian, one novice and seven laypeople were killed.”
As in previous years, the most deadly continents for Church workers were Africa, where nine people were killed, and the Americas, where six gave their lives.
Until 2017, the Americas led the way for eight consecutive years, but since 2018, except for 2020, Africa has topped the list.
Two priests, a seminarian and a Benedictine novice, were killed in terrorist- and bandit-prone Nigeria, church data showed.
Among the victims was Isaac Achi, a 61-year-old priest who was reportedly burned alive during an attack by an armed group in his parish in the diocese of Minna, central Nigeria.
Open Doors, a well-informed advocacy group, says Nigeria is one of the most violent nations for Christians, with thousands killed in recent years.
AFRICA KILLINGS
Also in Africa, “two missionaries were murdered in Burkina Faso; one priest was killed in an attack in his parish in Tanzania; a religious brother and a parish priest were stabbed in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), respectively,” the report said.
Mexico again “endured the bulk of missionary murders in the Americas” this year, “with two priests and two young catechists killed in the context of growing drug-related insecurity in the country,” Fides reported.
Two “brutal missionary murders” were also reported in the United States, where Bishop David O’Connell, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, was killed by the husband of his housekeeper, who reportedly confessed to the crime.
Additionally, in mid-December, Stephen Gutgsell, a priest at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, died after being stabbed in the rectory of the Church, church sources noticed.
Hungary, the only known nation with a government secretariat for persecuted Christians, has made clear it wants to increase its support for this group.
A law “on Hungary Helps humanitarian aid program has been amended to allow broader Hungarian contribution in economic development and peace-making as of January 1,” confirmed the foreign ministry’s state secretary for helping persecuted Christians.
“The amendment allows Hungary to strengthen its role and better enforce solidarity with Christian communities as well as to represent the concept that help must be provided where the problems are,” Tristan Azbej said.
He stressed that Christianity “had become the most persecuted religion in the world, with some 5,000 followers murdered each year.” Around 80 percent of the attacks occur in Nigeria, Azbej said, noting that “Jihadist, Islamist tribes” had mounted attacks on “20 Christian settlements” and killed some “200 Christians” around Christmas.
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