Missionaries killed in 2021

Source: Fides

In 2021, Fides reports that 22 missionaries were killed around the world. They were: 13 priests, one religious brother, two religious sisters, and six lay persons. The highest number of missionaries killed was registered in Africa, where 11 missionaries were killed.

AFRICA

In Africa, seven priests, two nuns and two lay persons were killed. Listed by country they included:

Angola

Father Manuel Ubaldo Jáuregui Vega, Colombian, from the Institute for Foreign Missions in Yarumal, was assassinated in Zango, municipality of Viana, Luanda, on March 7, 2021, during an assault following a minor road accident.

Nigeria

Fr John Gbakaan Yaji, parish priest in Gulu, in the diocese of Minna, was killed on January 15, 2021 along the Lambata-Lapai road, by armed men who attacked the car in which he was traveling. His body was found near the road, tied to a tree.

Fr Ferdinand Fanen Ngugban was killed by armed men on the morning of March 30, 2021, in the parish of St Paul of Ayetwar, diocese of Katsina-Ala, Benue State, during a raid by armed men in the area.

Fr Alphonsus Bello was killed on the night of May 20, 2021, when a group of armed men attacked the parish of St. Vincent Ferrer in Malunfashi, in Katsina State, and was kidnapped along with another priest. His lifeless body was found the next morning.

Fr Luke Adeleke was killed in an attempted kidnapping on his way home after celebrating Christmas Eve Mass on the evening of December 24, hit by bullets by a gang of gunmen in Ogunmakin Obafemi Owode.

Burkina Faso

Fr Rodrigue Sanon's body, parish priest in the diocese of Banfora, who had disappeared on January 19, 2021 while on his way to a meeting of priests with the Bishop, was found on January 21, in the forest of Toumousseni, about twenty of kilometers from Banfora.

Central African Republic

Omer Dalyom Dallet, 22, was killed by the explosion of a mine that hit the car driven by a missionary of the Catholic Mission of Niem on May 5, 2021, injured, on which Omer was traveling to visit his sister who was hospitalized.

South Sudan

Sister Mary Daniel Abut and Sister Regina Roba, of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, were killed cold-bloodedly during an ambush along the Juba-Nimule highway on August 16, 2021. They fled after the attack by bandits on the bus they were traveling on, and were caught and killed.

Peter Bata, head catechist, was killed along with other people on October 26, 2021 during the assault by an armed group on the Catholic parish of Mupoi.

Uganda

Fr Joshephat Kasambula, former parish priest of Lwamata in the diocese of Kiyinda-Mityana, was murdered cold-bloodedly on the evening of August 18, 2021 by a person known as a drug addict.

SOUTH and CENTRAL AMERICA

In the Americas, four priests, one religious and two lay persons were killed.

Venezuela

Brother Luigi Manganiello, a Lasallian religious, was violently hit by the thieves he had caught while they were stealing from the premises of the Barquisimeto school, on the night between January 5 and 6, 2021.

Mexico

Fr Gumersindo Cortés González, parish priest of Cristo Rey parish, in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, disappeared on March 27, 2021. The following day his body was found near his car, with signs of violence and gunshots.

Friar Juan Antonio Orozco Alvarado, OFM, was the victim, along with other people, of a clash between armed gangs in the territory, on June 12, 2021, while he was about to celebrate mass in the community of Tepehuana de Pajaritos, in Zacatecas State, Jalisco.

Simón Pedro Pérez López, indigenous tzozil, catechist of the diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas, human rights activist, was killed on the morning of July 5, 2021 by a stranger on a motorcycle who shot him in the head.

The lifeless body of Fr José Guadalupe Popoca was found on the morning of August 31, 2021 in his parish, in Galeana, municipality of Zacatepec, in Morelos State. He was killed in the night by gunshots to the head.

Peru

Nadia de Munari, an Italian lay missionary, of Operation Mato Grosso (OMG) died on Saturday April 24, 2021 after being brutally attacked with a machete in her sleep, a few days earlier, during a theft.

Haiti

On September 6, 2021, Fr André Sylvestre was attacked by two young people on a motorcycle in Cap Haitien, as he was leaving a bank carrying a wallet. Reached by gunshots, he died in the operating room.

ASIA

In Asia one priest and two lay persons were killed.

Philippines

On the evening of January 24, 2021, gunmen killed Fr Rene Bayang Regalado, as he was returning to the St John XXIII Seminary in the village of Patpat, province of Bukidnon, on the island of Mindanao, several shots hit him in the head.

Myanmar

Two young 18-year-old Catholics, Alfred Ludo and Patrick Bo Reh, who were working to bring food and humanitarian aid to displaced people fleeing the conflict between the Burmese regular army and the popular defense forces, were killed by snipers on May 27, 2021 .

EUROPE

In Europe one priest was killed.

France

Father Olivier Maire, Provincial Superior of the Company of Mary (Monfortan), was assassinated on August 9, 2021, in the provincial house of Saint Laurent sur Sèvre, in France, by a Rwandan citizen who had been for some time in the community.