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?
