UNITY IN PRAYER
COURAGE IN FAITH
THE FACE OF THE SUFFERING AND PERSECUTED
Martyred for our Faith 2024-2025
Persecution comes in many forms. Men, women and children are subjected to harassment and discrimination. In Saudi Arabia, Christians are unable to practice their faith freely without fear of repercussion. In Egypt, the Catholic Church is often denied permits and prevented from building churches. And, in China, faithful are afraid to wear crosses or carry bibles in public. But persecution in its most tragic form comes in the number of modern-day martyrs, those unwilling to renounce their belief in Christ even when faced with death, and those kidnapped, with whereabouts still unknown. Our donors and supporters pledge during our Courage in Faith initiative to pray for those who have fallen and to stand with those who are suffering. Will you join us and be a companion to the Persecuted Church and her faithful?
Through our Courage in Faith initiative, Aid to the Church in Need remembers today’s Christian martyrs and those faithful currently suffering persecution. Courage in Faith consists of prayer vigils, Masses, and other events focusing on Christian persecution. “We do not believe that evil has the last word. Filled with hope, we continue to fight against terrorism with prayer, the sacraments, Holy Mass and the Rosary. In dying, out of love for God and our fellow men, we can destroy the power of evil at its root.” — A priest in danger in Burkina Faso Today, the persecution of Christians is as brutal and vicious as that experienced by Christians in the early Church. Many of our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, Africa and other regions are coming face to face with evil, as our Christian faith and symbols are being threatened. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” —Tertullian
Christian Religious Martyrs †
Christian Faithful Martyrs †
Catechist Mathias Zongo ~ Burkina Faso Catechist Christian Tientga ~ Burkina Faso Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win ~ Burma Father Enrique Fabián Arcos Sevilla ~ Ecuador
On June 13, 2025, two hundred faithful were killed in Nigeria when terrorists attacked the village of Yelewata, shouting “Allahu Akbar.” During Divine Liturgy on June 22, 2025, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Orthodox Church of St. Elijah in Damascus,
Sister Evanette Onezaire ~ Haiti Sister Jeanne Voltaire ~ Haiti
Syria, leaving twenty dead. On February 15, 2025, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than 70 bodies were
Father Alloyce Cheruiyot Bett ~ Kenya Father John Ndegwa Maina ~ Kenya Father Tobias Chukwujekwu Okonkwo ~ Nigeria Father Sylvester Okechukwu ~ Nigeria Seminarian Andrew Peter ~ Nigeria Father Matthew Eya ~ Nigeria Father Augustine Dauda Amadu ~ Sierra Leone
found in a Protestant church. A few months later, forty people were
killed by a terrorist group linked to the Islamic State during a prayer vigil.
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