The numbers reported by Fides do not include the death of Father Tobias Chukwujekwu Okonkwo, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants, at lhiala, along Onitsha-Owerri Expressway, Nigeria, hours after Pope Francis honored the first Christian martyr on Boxing Day.
“Sadly, even today, many men and women are persecuted—sometimes to the point of death—because of the Gospel,” Pope Francis said.
