Twenty-six people involved in missionary work, including a bishop, were murdered last year, almost twice as many as in 2004.

Pope Benedict XVI was “deeply saddened” by the killing of a Roman Catholic bishop in Kenya this week and expressed hope the prelate’s death would “hasten the dawn” of peace and reconciliation in the African country, the Vatican said today.

A Roman Catholic bishop was shot to death near his church in northern Kenya last night, the Vatican Embassy in Nairobi said.