Persecution of Christians

About 40,000 devotees gathered at St. Anthony's shrine in Bangladesh despite fears of violence ahead of national elections, praying for peace in the Muslim-majority nation where Christians make up less than 1% of the population.

As fears of a return to full-scale war in South Sudan escalate, Catholic bishops in the country have reiterated their call for peace and dialogue, warning that directing forces to 'spare no lives' is a direct call to genocide amid fighting and mobilization in parts of the country.

For the fourth consecutive year, North Korea was named the country where Christians face the most extreme persecution, according to Open Doors’ World Watch List 2026, but Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship just over a year ago has propelled the Mideast nation up the list.

Seventeen Catholic priests, sisters, seminarians and lay workers were murdered in 2025, according to Fides, the Vatican's missionary news agency.

Catholics in northwestern Nigeria are celebrating just days before Christmas, as the last group of students kidnapped from St. Mary's Catholic School in Papiri has been freed.

Despite the veil of silence surrounding the longtime persecution of Christians in Nigeria lifting in recent weeks, oppressive bandits and militant groups continue their rampage of terror.

During the Nov. 23 Angelus prayer, Pope Leo XIV appealed for the release of over 300 children and teachers abducted from a Catholic school in central Nigeria.

St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica is set to be illuminated red later this week as Aid to the Church in Need Canada’s Red Wednesday Mass is commemorated in downtown Toronto, signalling the church as a visual testament of support for millions of persecuted Christians around the world.

The Diocese of Auchi, Nigeria, announced the death of a young seminarian who, along with two fellow seminarians, was kidnapped by bandits in July.

Persecuted Nigerian Christians are embracing U.S. President Donald Trump's designation of their homeland a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) as a long-desired answer to their anguished prayers.