Capuchin Franciscan Friars

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On 25 December 2013, a bomb exploded outside St John's Catholic church in the Dora area of Baghdad, killing 24. Earlier, a blast at an outdoor market in the mainly Christian al-Athorien district, killed 11 more people.Iraq's ancient Christian community has more than halved in recent years, from an estimated population of 900,000.No-one has yet admitted carrying out the attacks, which came as Christmas Day services were held across Iraq.Churches have been targeted across the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

An attack by gunmen in 2010 on the Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad left more than 50 people dead.

Four Capuchin friars are working in violence-torn Syria, two in Deir Ezzor in the northwest and two in As Suwayda in the southeast, in a place called the Mountain of the Druze”. The friars report that the situation is worsening and there is a growing fear among the Christians about the future. In April 2013, the Church in Deir Ezzor was bombed.

Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III Laham recently said more than 1,000 Christians had been killed, "entire villages… cleared of their Christian inhabitants", and more than 40 churches and Christian centres damaged or destroyed. It is also reported that over 600,000 have fled the country. Many still remain in Syria where they are at risk of abduction and acts of violence, and struggling with the same hardships as the rest of the population.

AMERICA

• In Colombia Don José Francisco Vélez Echeverri, Don José Ancizar Mejia Palomino, Don Luis Bernardo Echeverri e Don Héctor Fabio Cabrera were killed in their home, most likely due to an attempted robbery. Don Luis Alfredo Suárez Salazar was killed during gunfire. The lifeless bodies of Don José Antonio Bayona Valle and of Don Néstor Darío Buendía Martínez, who had been missing for days were found in an isolated area.

• In Mexico Don José Flores Preciado was killed after being beaten by unknown persons, who had been discovered by the priest while they were committing theft in church where the priest celebrated Mass; Don Ignacio Cortez Alvarez, Don Hipólito Villalobos Lima and Don Nicolás De la Cruz Martínez were killed in their home.

• In Brazil Father Elvis Marcelino De Lima was killed by two young boys during a robbery

• In Venezuela Don José Ramón Mendoza was killed while he was in his car by a gang of bandits.

• In Panama Don Anibal Gomez was killed most likely during a robbery, as the priest had bruises, had been tied, and he died because of a large stab wound.

• In Haiti Fr Richard E. Joyal was killed while he was leaving a bank by two men on a motorbike.

AFRICA

• In Tanzania Don Evarist Mushi was shot to death by a person on a motorbike while he was going to celebrate mass.

• In Madagascar Sister Marie Emmanuel Helesbeux was killed. She was first hit with a stick and then strangled by three people; it seems they owed the victim money.

• In Nigeria a lay missionary, Afra Martinelli, was found in her room, severely wounded in the neck with a machete, most likely due to an attempted theft.

ASIA

• In India Don Kochupuryil J. Thomas was killed by unknown persons in the Seminary where he was a Rector.

• In Syria Father François Murad was murdered in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land where he found refuge after the start of the civil war.

• In the Philippines a lay Catholic, Dexter Condez, was killed with eight shots. He was committed in defending the rights and prerogatives of the indigenous group Ati.

EUROPE

• In Italy Don Michele Di Stefano was killed with a stick in his bed, at the rectory where he lived alone.

MAY THEY REST IN PEACE