VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Twenty-six priests, nuns and lay Catholics were killed worldwide in 2011, with the highest number of victims in Latin America, the Vatican's news agency Fides said Friday. "Twenty-six pastoral workers were killed in 2011, one more than in 2010: 18 priests, four nuns and four lay people," said the agency, part of the Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples. In 2009, 37 religious workers were killed. "Some were victims of the violence they risked their lives to fight against, and this year many were killed in theft or kidnap attempts, or were surprised in their homes by bandits," Fides said.