Religion: Christian Casualties

Since the outbreak of war in Korea, announced the Methodist Church Board of Missions after a check of its own and other church figures, 439 “fulltime Christian workers” of all denominations have been “lost.” Thirty-two were foreign missionaries, the rest Koreans, most of them pastors.

Hardest-hit denomination was the Presbyterian Church in Korea, with 247 pastors lost (136 in South Korea, 111 in the North). Roman Catholics, according to the compilation, lost 80 Korean priests and nuns; Methodists, 55 pastors; Holiness Church, six pastors; Anglican Church, six priests; Salvation Army, four officers; Y.M.C.A., eight secretaries; Y.W.C.A., one secretary.

“It is believed,” said the Church Board, “that all, except a few prisoners possibly still alive in Manchuria, are dead.”