More than a dozen Catholic missionaries were killed worldwide in 2024, with most deaths occurring in Africa and Latin America, according to a new report.
Agenzia Fides, which describes itself as the “Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies” under the jurisdiction of the Vatican, published its annual report on missionaries and pastoral workers killed worldwide Monday.
The report takes an expansive definition of the term “missionary” that extends beyond “missionaries and pastoral workers” to also include “all Catholics who were involved in some way in pastoral works and ecclesial activities and who died violently, even if they did not die expressly ‘in hatred of the faith.’”
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In 2024, a total of 13 “missionaries” were killed worldwide, including eight priests and five laypeople. As was the case in previous years, Africa and the Americas recorded the highest number of killings of all continents worldwide.
A total of six missionaries lost their lives in Africa. Two killings took place in Burkina Faso. Layperson Francois Kabore was leading a prayer service in the village of Essakane on Feb. 25 when he fell victim to a brutal attack by jihadist terrorists who “shot the men and spared the women.” A total of 15 people were killed.
The other attack in Burkina Faso claimed the life of Edouard Yougbare, a layperson who ministered to local Catholics, who was kidnapped and killed in April. His body was discovered with a slit throat and his hands tied behind his back, along with additional signs that he was tortured.
The Rev. William Banda of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tzaneen in South Africa was one of two South African missionaries killed in 2024. On March 13, he was shot and killed by a stranger as he prepared to say mass.
The Rev. Mothobi Paul Tatu, who was studying for a doctorate at the University of Johannesburg, was found shot and killed in his car on April 27. Witness reports indicate that he was killed by the perpetrators of another murder that he had witnessed.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, layperson Edmond Bahati Monja was killed outside his home on Sept. 27. Monja, who was the coordinator of the Catholic radio broadcasting service Radio Maria in Goma, was investigating religious persecution and violence at the time of his death. The sixth missionary killed in Africa, the Rev. Christophe Komla Badjougou, was shot and killed in Cameroon on Oct. 7 as part of an attempted robbery.
In the Americas, five Catholic missionaries in five different countries lost their lives. In Brazil, layperson Steve Maguerith Chaves do Nascimento was shot and killed on Dec. 8 in an attempted robbery at the parish where he worked. In Colombia, the Rev. Ramon Arturo Montejo Peinado was stabbed to death and then run over by two assailants on June 4.
In Honduras, layperson Juan Antonio Lopez was murdered inside his car as he attended a Eucharistic celebration on Sept. 14. He had received death threats in recent years over his environmental activism, which has included a denunciation of the pollution contaminating local rivers.
In Mexico, the Rev. Marcelo Perez Perez was shot and killed on Oct. 20 as he was sitting in a car after celebrating mass. In Ecuador, the Rev. Fabian Enrique Arcos Sevilla was found dead near a landfill on Nov. 3 with “obvious signs of torture” four days after he went missing.
The remaining two missionary deaths took place in Europe, specifically Poland and Spain. The Rev. Lech Lachowicz was attacked on Nov. 3 after a man broke into the rectory where he resided and attacked him with an axe as part of an attempted robbery. The Polish priest succumbed to his injuries six days later.
In Spain, the Rev. Juan Antonio Llorente Espin was bludgeoned with a stick and glass bottle by an intruder who broke into the monastery where he lived and chanted, “I am Jesus Christ!” He died on Nov. 11, two days after the attack.
Data compiled by Agenzia Fides has documented a total of 608 incidents where Catholic missionaries and pastoral workers have lost their lives worldwide since 2000. The report’s publication comes four days after the Catholic Church celebrated the Dec. 26 Feast of St. Stephen Protomartyr, the very first martyr who lost his life due to his belief in Jesus Christ.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
