20 missionaries killed in 2023

Among those who were killed were two US clergymen: Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell and Nebraska parish priest Fr Stephen Gutgsell.

The number of murders represents an increase over 2022, when 18 missionaries were killed.

Africa

Nine missionaries were killed in Africa, the continent that saw the most such murders in 2023. Of the nine, five were priests, two were religious men, one was a seminarian, one was a novice.

Of these, four were killed in Nigeria. In recent months, a monk, Brother Godwin Eze, was kidnapped and brutally murdered at the Benedictine monastery in Eruku, Nigeria.

In Burkina Faso, two men, a priest and religious brother, were killed. In the western African country of Tanzania, one priest, Fr Pamphili Nada, died after his parish was attacked.

In Cameroon, Brother Cyprian Ngeh was stabbed to death, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a priest, Fr Léopold Feyen, was also stabbed to death.

Mexico and US

Six missionaries were killed in the Americas in 2023, with all of the murders occurring in either Mexico or the United States. The deaths included one bishop, three priests, and two laywomen. Two catechists were killed on their way to a Eucharistic procession in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

In the United States, Bishop O’Connell was killed in his home. Charges were filed against his housekeeper’s husband. Fr Gutgsell was stabbed in his Church rectory; an arrest has been made and charges filed in that case as well.

Asia

Four laypeople were killed in Asia in the past year.

(Catholic News Agency; Fr. Pamphili Nada’s Photo Courtesy: Radio Maria Tanzania)