Short Biographical Notes And Death Stories Of The Missionaries Who Were Killed In 2022, The Cross Is Painful

VATICAN, suluhdesa.com | According to information gathered by Agenzia Fides, 18 missionaries were killed in the world in 2022: 12 priests, 1 religious man, 3 religious women, 1 seminarian,1 lay person.

This year the highest number of missionaries killed is registered in Africa, where 9 missionaries were killed (7 priests and 2 religious women), followed by Latin America, where 8 missionaries were killed (4 priests, 1 religious man, 1 religious woman, 1 seminarian, 1 lay person).

In Asia 1 priest was killed. In the last years, Africa and America have alternated in first place in this tragic ranking: America for 8 years from 2011 to 2021 and Africa for 3 years (2018, 2019, 2021). From 2001 to 2021, according to data in our possession, 526 missionaries have been killed in the world.

Baca Juga: This Is the True Way Of The Cross: Missionaries Killed In The Year 2022

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF DEATH

Fides News Agency welcomes any extra information or correction to this year’s list or to those of previous years.

Pablo Isabel Hernández, layman, authoritative figure of the Lenca indigenous group, in western Honduras. Delegate of the Word of God, recognized pastoral worker of the Catholic Church of Honduras, was killed on Sunday, January 9, 2022 by unknown men who shot him in the back.

The murder took place in the municipality of San Marcos de Caiquín, department of Lempira, as Pablo was on his way to the community to lead a celebration of the Word of God. "Pablo was a man of God - recalls the statement of the Presidents of Celam and Remam - who loved his family, loved his people, respected and committed to the Common Home".

He was director of Radio Tenán, the Lenca indigenous voice, president of the Network of Agroecologists of the Cacique Lempira Biosphere, sponsor of the University of Indigenous and Peoples and Mayor of La Auxiliaría de La Vara Alta de Caiquín, in the department of Lempira. The network "Iglesias y Minería" also condemned "the killing of the human rights defender and communicator" with "force and pain".

(Agenzia Fides, 12/1/2022)

Father Joseph Tran Ngoc Thanh, a Vietnamese Dominican priest (OP), 41, was killed while listening to confessions in the parish of Dak Mót, diocese of Kon Tum. The attack took place on January 29, 2022, shortly before the celebration of the Vespers Mass on Saturday evening.

Father Joseph Tran Ngoc Thanh was in the confessional when he was attacked with a knife by a mentally unstable man. Another Dominican religious, who rushed to the scene, was wounded with a knife when he tried to stop the attacker. Father Tran, who was injured, received initial treatment, but was unable to recover and died at 11:30 p.m. (local time) the same day.

The local police arrested the attacker, considered a "mentally ill" person.

Father Joseph Thanh was born on August 10, 1981 in Saigon and made his religious profession in the Order of Preachers on August 13, 2010. He was ordained a priest on August 4, 2018.