Where is the deadliest place in the world to work for the Church today? The obvious answer is the Middle East. Since 2003, the Christian population of Iraq has fallen from 1.5 million to fewer than 450,000. In neighbouring Syria, the number has dropped from 1.8 million to 500,000 since the civil war broke out. Yet the Middle East is not the deadliest continent for Church workers, according to new figures released by Agenzia Fides. That dishonour goes to the Americas.
According to Fides, 12 “pastoral care workers” – nine priests and three Sisters – were killed in the Americas in 2016. For the eighth year running, the continent ranks as the most dangerous on the planet for Church workers. But how can a continent with an overwhelmingly Christian population be more deadly than the Middle East, where black-clad Islamists crucify opponents and bulldoze churches?
It is natural to wonder if the statistics are reliable. Yet Agenzia Fides, the information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies founded in 1927, is thoroughly trustworthy. It has compiled an annual list of pastoral workers killed in the line of duty since at least 2000. Note that this list is restricted to priests, Religious and lay people working directly for the Church. Note, also, that it is limited to Catholics and does not include, say, members of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, the largest Christian denomination in Syria.
One reason the Americas dominates the list is that parts of the continent are exceptionally violent. Nine of the 10 cities with the highest murder rates in the world are in Latin America. The Catholic Church has a strong presence in each of these places, and therefore pastoral workers are exposed daily to the general risk of violence. The motive for the killings is often not, as one might suspect, hatred of the faith. “Once again,” Fides explains in its commentary, “the majority of the pastoral care workers in 2016 were killed in attempted robbery, and in some cases violently attacked, a sign of the climate of moral decline, economic and cultural poverty, which generates violence and disregard for human life.”
This is not to imply that all last year’s deaths were senseless and random. Fides recounts the story of Fr José Luis Sánchez Ruiz, a cleric in eastern Mexico who denounced local crime and corruption with heroic fervour. The priest was kidnapped and his body later found with “obvious signs of torture” – in a gruesome echo of the death of Polish hero Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko.
According to Fides, 424 pastoral workers have been killed worldwide since 2000, an average of 25 a year. In 2016, 28 were killed; in 2015, 22. So the number of killings last year was above average and a sharp increase on the year before. The figures also underline that the risks are not limited to a single continent: eight workers were killed in Africa, seven in Asia and one (Fr Jacques Hamel) in Europe.
The best way to respond to this rise is to pray for the thousands of priests, Religious and lay people who put their lives at risk each day. We should support charities that help these courageous Church workers. We should also follow their example and not allow the fear of violence to paralyse us. As Jesus himself forewarned us (Matthew 10:22): “You will be universally hated on account of my name.” Our mission is not to achieve total physical security, but to ensure that the Gospel is passed on to as many people as possible.
A priest against the odds
An ordination is always an occasion for rejoicing. But last Saturday’s ceremony in Raleigh, North Carolina, had a special significance. The new priest, Fr Philip Johnson, was diagnosed in October 2008 with an inoperable brain cancer. The former naval officer, still not 25, was given 18 months to live. In 2009 he told the Catholic Herald that his great wish was to go seminary: “The saddest part is not being able to fulfil that,” he said. “I dream about being a priest. It’s such an amazing thing, to offer Holy Mass, to absolve sins … but at the same time, it may not be God’s will.”
Now, against the odds, Fr Johnson has realised his dream. The brain tumour has mysteriously stopped. Thanks to divine providence, innumerable prayers from those moved by Fr Johnson’s story, and the wisdom of Bishop Michael Burbidge, who supported Fr Johnson in his vocation, the Church has a new priest to offer the sacrifice of the Mass and reconcile sinners to God.
Two years ago, while in the seminary, Fr Johnson tried to contact Brittany Maynard, the young woman who wanted to commit suicide because of her brain tumour. After her death, he published what he had wanted to say. “Suffering is not worthless,” the seminarian wrote, adding that the concept of “redemptive suffering” had been forgotten in modern times.
The Catholic Herald would like to join the Diocese of Raleigh in wishing Fr Johnson many happy years in the priesthood. But his life already witnesses to the value of human existence, even in great adversity.
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