Lagos, 27 December, 2021 / 11:30 pm (ACI Africa).
Catholic pontifical and charity foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, has highlighted a number of African countries on the list of many countries in the world where Priests, Religious and Lay missionaries are facing the danger of killings, kidnappings and other forms of persecution.
The African countries include Angola, Burkina Faso, South Sudan, Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroun, and Mali.
In a Wednesday, November 10 report, ACN leadership says that at least 17 church leaders have been murdered and 20 have been kidnapped in 2021, and expressed concern that Priests and women and men Religious are increasingly becoming targets in attacks across the world.
“Being a Priest or Religious does not make a person immune to violence, on the contrary, it can make them more of a target,” the Executive President of ACN, Thomas Heine-Geldern has been quoted as saying in the report.
He adds, “Sometimes the motive is financial, whether robbery or ransom.”