Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Dossier by Fabio Beretta
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – «We can ask them: “How did you manage to survive such trials?” And they will tell us what we heard in this passage from the Second Letter to the Corinthians: “God is the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation. He is the one who consoled us!”»
We have chosen the words that Pope Francis delivered in the Cathedral of Tirana during his Apostolic Journey to Albania in 2014 to introduce the usual annual report of Fides Agency on missionaries and pastoral workers killed in the world in 2024.
The annual list proposed by Fides, as it has been for some time, does not refer only to missionaries and pastoral workers “ad gentes” in the strict sense, but considers the term “missionary” in a broader context, encompassing 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".
For this reason, we prefer not to use the term “martyrs”, if not in its etymological meaning of “witness”, in order not to enter into the question of the judgment that the Church might eventually deliver upon some of them, after careful consideration, for beatification or canonization.
The numbers
In 2024, according to data verified by Fides, 13 Catholic "missionaries" were killed worldwide, including eight priests and five lay people.
This year too, Africa and America recorded the highest number of pastoral workers killed: five on both continents. In recent years, it was Africa and America that alternated at the top of this tragic ranking.
In detail, in Africa a total of 6 men were killed (2 in Burkina Faso, 1 in Cameroon, 1 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 2 in South Africa), 5 in the Americas (1 in Colombia, 1 in Ecuador, 1 in Mexico and 1 in Brazil) and two in Europe (1 in Poland and 1 in Spain).
As the information on their biographies and the circumstances of their deaths shows, the missionaries and pastoral workers killed were not in the spotlight, but worked to bear witness to their faith in everyday life, not only in contexts marked by violence and conflict.
The little information on the lives and circumstances in which these people died violently give us a picture of daily life, in contexts often marked by violence, poverty and lack of justice. They are often witnesses and missionaries who selflessly sacrificed their lives to Christ until the end.
Among the pastoral workers killed in 2024 are also Edmond Bahati Monja, coordinator of Radio Maria/Goma, and Juan Antonio López, coordinator of the social pastoral care of the Diocese of Truijllo and founding member of the pastoral care of integral ecology in Honduras.
Edmond, who lived in an area of North Kivu shaken by the advance of the armed group M23, was shot dead by a group of armed men near his home in the district of Ndosho, on the outskirts of Goma. The regular Congolese army has formed alliances with other armed groups to defend the city and has also supplied weapons to some militias that call themselves "Wazalendo" ("patriots" in Swahili). However, the presence of irregular armed groups has led to a rise in violent crimes in Goma, with robberies and murders. The case of the killing of Edmond Bahati, involved in investigations into local issues, is also linked to the passion with which he conducted his work. At least a dozen journalists have been murdered in and around Goma in two years. Bahati had been investigating the violence of armed groups in the region.
Juan Antonio López, on the other hand, was known for his commitment to social justice, and drew strength and courage from the source of his Christian faith. The crime occurred just hours after a press conference in which Juan Antonio López, along with other municipal representatives, denounced alleged links between members of the Tocoa municipal government and organized crime.
López's murder is part of a growing repression against human rights activists in Honduras. Pope Francis stressed the importance of protecting those who work for justice during the Angelus prayer on September 22. "I join in the grief of this local Church and in the condemnation of all forms of violence," the Pope stressed. "I am close to all those who see their basic rights trampled upon, as well as to those who work for the common good and in this way respond to the cry of the poor and the earth," the Pope added, recalling López's legacy as a man of faith who gave his life for others.
From 2000 to 2024, a total of 608 missionaries and pastoral workers were killed. «These brothers and sisters may also seem to be failures, but today we see that it is not the case. Now as then, in fact, the seed of their sacrifices, which seems to die, germinates and bears fruit, because God continues to work miracles, through them, changing hearts and saving men and women». (Pope Francis, December 26, 2023, liturgical feast of St. Stephen Protomartyr). (Agenzia Fides, 30/12/2024)
