At least 12 priests and 5 nuns were killed over the course of 2022, according to data collected by the foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). In addition, the foundation documented over 40 kidnappings, with 5 priests currently missing.
Nigeria was the country with the highest number of victimized clergy this year, including 4 murdered priests and 29 kidnappings. This peaked in July, with 7 abductions, and during the week before Christmas, 3 priests were kidnapped.
Another country where persecution seems to have intensified this year is Nicaragua, where 11 clergy were arrested under Daniel Ortega, including 2 seminarians, a deacon, a bishop, and 7 priests. The Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez is currently under house arrest and awaiting his day in court.
Eritrea is also holding a bishop and 2 priests under arrest, apparently without providing a definitive prosecution date.
The ACN also claims that underground clergy in China have faced repeated detentions over not joining the official state church, with 10 priests or more disappearing between January and May 2022.
Other conflicts in which clergy have been arrested, specifically for taking or being seen as representing a partisan stance, include Ukraine, Ethiopia (to do with the Tigray conflict), and Myanmar.
