10 notable Christians who died in 2022
Abune Antonios – Feb. 9, 2022
Abune Antonios, the former leader of the Orthodox Church in Eritrea, died after spending 15 years in detention as a prisoner of conscience for resisting the Eritrean government’s interference in church affairs. He was 94.
Antonios garnered backlash from officials for reasons including refusing to expel 3,000 members of the Orthodox renewal movement and for speaking out against the detention of priests.
“Abune Antonios was a deeply principled man who prioritized his calling over the politicization of the Church by a regime deemed to have committed crimes against humanity since 1991,” said Christian Solidarity Worldwide founder and President Mervyn Thomas.
“Despite 16 years of unremitting pressure, mistreatment and defamation, the patriarch never compromised, even when it could have led to his reinstatement. He chose instead to protect the integrity and doctrine of the Church with which he had been entrusted, at the cost of freedom and comfort in his twilight years.”
