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As the year 2025 draws to a close, the Fides news agency has released its annual report on Catholic missionaries and pastoral workers who lost their lives in service. Rather than highlighting "spectacular deeds," the report honors those who bore witness to Christ through the simple, steady presence of their everyday lives, often in the heart of conflict. Pope Leo XIV explained that missionaries and pastoral workers who are killed is “a hope filled with immortality because their witness lives on as a prophecy of the victory of good over evil.”
2025 Statistical Overview
In 2025, a total of 17 missionaries were killed worldwide. This group includes priests, women religious (nuns), seminarians, and laypeople.
| Continent | Number Killed | Roles Involved |
| Africa | 10 | 6 priests, 2 seminarians, 2 catechists |
| Americas | 4 | 2 priests, 2 nuns |
| Asia | 2 | 1 priest, 1 layperson |
| Europe | 1 | 1 priest |
| Total | 17 |
Regional Breakdown
Africa: The most affected region this year, with deaths concentrated in Nigeria (5), Burkina Faso (2), Sierra Leone (1), Kenya (1), and Sudan (1).
Americas: Tragedies occurred in Haiti (2), Mexico (1), and the United States (1).
Asia: Deaths were recorded in Myanmar (1) and the Philippines (1).
Europe: One priest was killed in Poland.
The Faces Behind the Numbers
The report highlights several individuals whose deaths underscore the dangers faced by those serving in volatile regions:
Emmanuel Alabi (Nigeria): A young seminarian who died during a forced march after being kidnapped by armed captors from the Ivianokpodi minor seminary.
Sr. Evanette Onezaire & Sr. Jeanne Voltaire (Haiti): Both were murdered by armed gangs currently destabilizing the nation.
Donald Martin (Myanmar): The first Burmese Catholic priest to be killed in the nation’s ongoing civil conflict; his body was found by parishioners within his own parish complex.
A Legacy of Hope
The tragic loss of these 17 individuals adds to a long-term total of 626 Catholic missionaries killed between 2000 and 2025. Despite these grim statistics, the report frames these lives not as failures, but as seeds of hope. It echoes the words of Pope Francis, noting that the sacrifice of these "everyday" witnesses acts as a germinating seed that eventually bears fruit, changing hearts and offering a pledge of a life that does not die.
"The seed of their sacrifices, which seems to die, germinates and bears fruit, because God continues to work miracles... changing hearts and saving men and women." — Pope Francis
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