17 Catholic Missionaries Were Killed in 2025

17 Catholic Missionaries Were Killed in 2025

“The hope of missionaries and pastoral workers who are killed is a hope filled with immortality.”

(Agenzia Fides, 30/12/2025)

(ANS – Rome – December 31, 2025) – Even the hope of missionaries and pastoral workers who are killed is “a hope full of immortality, because their testimony remains as a prophecy of the victory of good over evil.”

That comment by Pope Leo XIV introduces the usual report published at the end of the year by the Fides Agency on Catholic missionaries and pastoral workers killed around the world. It suggests in a simple way the very source of Christian hope, the pledge of a life that does not die.

The often sparse information on the biographies and circumstances of their deaths shows again this year that the missionaries killed were not in the spotlight for sensational deeds. They bore witness to Christ in their everyday occupations, even when working in contexts marked by violence and conflict.

Some data

In 2025, according to information gathered by Fides Agency, 17 Catholic missionaries were killed worldwide: priests, religious, seminarians, and lay people.

The highest number of pastoral workers killed was recorded in Africa, where 10 missionaries (6 priests, 2 seminarians, 2 catechists) were murdered. In the Americas, 4 missionaries (2 priests, 2 religious sisters) were killed, and in Asia, 2 (one priest and one lay person). One priest was killed in Europe. In recent years, Africa and America have alternated at the top of this tragic ranking.

Among the 10 pastoral workers killed in Africa, 5 lost their lives in Nigeria, 2 in Burkina Faso, 1 in Sierra Leone, 1 in Kenya, and 1 in Sudan. Of the 4 missionaries killed in America, 2 nuns were murdered in Haiti, 1 priest was killed in Mexico, and another priest of Indian origin was killed in the United States.

Of the 2 priests killed in Asia, 1 was brutally murdered in Burma and the other was killed in the Philippines.

The only priest killed in Europe lost his life in Poland.

Among the pastoral workers killed in 2025 was the young Nigerian seminarian Emmanuel Alabi, who died during a forced march imposed on him by his captors, who had attacked the minor seminary in Ivianokpodi and, after wounding him, had kidnapped him along with 2 of his companions. Sister Evanette Onezaire and Sister Jeanne Voltaire, murdered by members of one of the armed gangs that hold Haiti in check;  also Donald Martin, the first Burmese Catholic priest killed in the civil conflict that is bloodying Burma, whose lifeless body, horribly mutilated, was found by some parishioners in the parish complex.

From 2000 to 2025, 626 Catholic missionaries were killed worldwide.

“These brothers and sisters may seem like failures, but today we see that this is not the case. Now, as then, the seed of their sacrifices, which seems to die, sprouts and bears fruit, because God continues to work wonders through them, changing hearts and saving people” (Pope Francis, December 26, 2023, liturgical feast of St. Stephen the Protomartyr).

The complete Fides Dossier, in PDF format, can be downloaded at IT-Dossier_Operatori_pastorali_uccisi_2025.pdf.

Read OSV's report: Vatican agency says 17 churchworkers murdered in 2025 - OSV News