According to informa-tion gathered by Agenzia Fides, in 2020 20 missionaries were killed in the world: 8 priests, 1 religious man, 3 religious women, 2 semina-rians, 6 lay people. This 2020 year the highest number of missionaries killed returns to be registered in America, where 5 priests and 3 lay people were killed (8). Followed by Africa, where 1 priest, 3 religious women, 1 seminarian, 2 lay people were killed (7). In Asia 1 priest, 1 seminarian and 1 lay man. In Europe 1 priest and 1 religious man. In the last 20 years, from 2000 to 2020, 535 pastoral workers have been killed in the world, 5 of whom are Bishops.
Agenzia Fides continues its service to collect information regarding the missionaries killed during the year. We use the term “missionary” for all the baptized, aware that “in virtue of their Baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples. All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization” (EG 120). As it has been for some time, the annual list of Fides does not look only to Missionaries ad gentes in the strict sense, but tries to record all the baptized engaged in the life of the Church who died in a violent way, not only “in hatred of the faith.” –Agenzia Fides