IN 2023, THE NUMBER OF CATHOLIC PRIESTS ARRESTED, KIDNAPPED, AND MURDERED REACHED A RECORD HIGH.

 By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Friday, January 19, 2024

Two men look at St Joseph's Church, also known as Wangfujing Catholic Church, in Beijing on October 22, 2020, the day a secretive 2018 agreement between Beijing and the Vatican was renewed for another two years. | GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images

A new report shows that 132 priests and other religious figures were arrested, kidnapped, or murdered in 2023, leaving Catholic communities around the world worried about an increase in persecution of their priests.

This sad trend is especially noticeable in Belarus, China, Nicaragua, and Nigeria. In these countries, priests are the most vulnerable to threats.

In its latest study, the Catholic charity Help for Needy Churches revealed these figures. They say that, because of the difficulty of getting data from certain countries, the actual tally may be larger. He stated that the total confirmed cases were only eight in 2022.

According to the report, authoritarian regimes have punished priests and religious adherents for opposing injustice and human rights violations or simply for attempting to operate freely.

The situation in Nicaragua is terrible. Authorities arrested at least 19 clerics, including Bishop Isidoro de Carmen Mora Ortega of Siuna, in the last weeks of December. Four seminarians and two bishops were arrested. Two priests were later released, but 17 others—including Bishop Rolando Alvarez—were arrested in 2022, sentenced to 26 years in prison, and expelled from Nicaragua on January 14.

During the year, at least 20 priests were detained in China; in Belarus, at least 10 priests were detained, and three were still imprisoned at the end of the year, the charity said.

The situation in Ukraine is also bad, as two priests arrested by Russian troops more than a year ago are still in custody.

In India, anti-conversion laws were implemented, which resulted in the detention of a nun as well as at least five priests and other religious figures. Some still face charges that could lead to prison sentences, even though they have been released.

With 28 cases of abduction, including three nuns, Nigeria is the most vulnerable country. Other countries where clergy have been kidnapped include Haiti, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ethiopia. Most of them have been released, but three pastors in Nigeria and one in Burkina Faso are still missing.

ACN International Executive President Regina Lynch stated, "We are deeply concerned about the increasing threat faced by priests in countries such as Nigeria and Nicaragua, who are often at risk simply for carrying out their pastoral ministry."

86 of the 132 cases the ACN reported involved clergy arrests or detentions in 2023; the remaining cases involved arrests or disappearances by the start of the following year. The statistics collected by the charity include all kidnappings and murders of Catholic priests and religious people around the world, with particular emphasis on arrests related to religious persecution.

In its annual report, "The State of Religious Freedom in the United States," the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Religious Freedom (USCCB) described attacks on houses of worship as the "greatest threat to religious freedom in 2024.".

According to the report, rising tensions and possible violence against religious sites are a major concern, especially in the context of the Israeli-Hamas conflict and the extremely tense situation related to the 2024 elections.

The targeting of the Catholic Church in the United States has increased, especially after the US Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that the Constitution does not grant abortion rights. In states like Texas, Michigan, Colorado, North Carolina, and Virginia, churches have been vandalized. These trends, along with the broader context of more than 400 church attacks between 2018 and 2022, indicate an increasing concern for the safety of religious communities.

In addition, the committee's report pointed to another major threat to religious freedom. One is the possibility of a federal mandate that could affect Catholic hospitals and nonprofits.

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