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Radical Islam, Mexican cartels today's greatest threats
Robert Royal (pictured) is the author of "The Martyrs of the New Millennium: The Global Persecution of Christians in the Twenty-First Century"
July 30, 2025
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A quarter century has passed since Catholic author Robert Royal presented his book The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century: A Comprehensive Global History to Pope John Paul II during the Jubilee Year 2000.
History is repeating in 2025 for the president of the Faith & Reason Institute based in Washington, D.C. There is another Jubilee celebration, and the 75-year-old is again shining a spotlight on tyranny against followers of Christ with a new book.
The Martyrs of the New Millennium: The Global Persecution of Christians in the Twenty-First Century documents how brave priests, religious and lay people around the world are withstanding the cruelty of despotic regimes to keep their faith enkindled. This work of Christian academic literature, commissioned by the Catholic international non-profit Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), also features tragic accounts of Christians who were tortured and, in many cases, ultimately martyred because of their fidelity to Jesus.
Royal, the editor-in-chief of the online commentary forum The Catholic Thing, said his previous book centred on the subjugation of Christians under communism and fascism during the 1900s. His new book identifies a danger that has emerged “around the world” early in the unfolding third millennium and how the current situation in Nigeria “is an emblematic case” of modern martyrdom.
“We’ve (witnessed) radical Islamists attacking Christians in Nigeria,” said Royal. “It is the most populous country in Africa, and it is about half Muslim and half Christian. It has become radicalized, and now over 4,000 or 5,000 Christians are killed every year.”
Amid the suffering in the land where more Christians die because of their faith than any other nation in the world, a “paradox” has arisen, said Royal.
“The paradox about this, and it goes back to the early Church, is that the persecutions, in a way, reveal the faith of the martyr,” said Royal. “The early Christians were able to convert the Roman Empire. In Nigeria, you have the largest number of Christians being killed every year, but also, it's the country in Africa that is fastest growing in terms of its Catholic population. We see the way that witnessing, even unto death, has spiritual benefits and it also helps the Church to grow.”
Mexico is another country chronicled in The Martyrs of the New Millennium because of its ignominious reputation for priest killings. A December 2024 study released by the Catholic Multimedia Center based in Mexico City said approximately 80 priests have been murdered there since 1990.
“It’s not because of persecution in the old sense, but because of criminality,” said Royal. “It is the cartels (involved) in human trafficking and drug trafficking. Priests often try to protect people, and they get between the gangs and the people they're trying to protect. What happens quite often is that the priests are eliminated.”
Recognizing there is “always a spiritual battle waging,” Royal’s book delves into how satanic cults target Catholics and Christians. He specifically sheds light on the rise of the Santa Muerte (“Saint Death”) movement in Mexico and Central America. Adherents venerate a skeletal “folk saint of death,” which Royal describes as a “demonic parody” of Mary. Some leaders in this group “have talked about destroying the Catholic Church in Mexico.”
Though much space is devoted to outlining new persecution menaces, Royal does underscore that communism still looms as a threat. The current Sino-Vatican deal, which ostensibly was supposed to afford the Holy See veto power over bishop appointments in China, is “poisonous” because at least 10 bishops loyal to Rome have disappeared, people of faith are under surveillance and religious formation is not permitted.
Closer to home, Royal lamented how there have been over 400 cases of arson, attacks on parishes and other anti-Christian acts that have gone essentially unnoticed in recent years. He also alluded to the over 100 Christian churches vandalized or torched in Canada since 2021.
“I think that among our elites there is this kind of subtle anti-Christianity that we in the West need to be extremely vigilant about because this is an internal apostasy, but it's even more than that — it’s kind of a cultural opposition to Christianity.”
The Martyrs of the New Millennium also features sections about how nations around the world have constructed “blasphemy laws” that “accuse and condemn Christians unjustly,” teachings from the most recent pontiffs about martyrdom and how martyrs shaped some of the foundational writings about spirituality.
To learn more, visit sophiainstitute.com.
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the August 10, 2025, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "The changing face of Christian persecution".
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