380 Million Christians Face Persecution

380 Million Christians Face Persecution

It is becoming very dangerous to be a Christian. One in seven Christians across the world now face “high levels of persecution and discrimination” for their beliefs.

Thelatest  Open Doors annual World Watch List has revealed that over 380 million Christians are suffering persecution, 15 million more than last year. Almost 4,500 Christians were killed for their faith in 2024 alone. A staggering 69 per cent these martyrs were in Nigeria.

In terms of non-lethal persecution, North Korea remains the most dangerous country to follow Jesus, followed by Somalia and Yemen, both of which also see the regular killing of Christians by Islamist gangs. Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan are both also seeing a rise in anti-Christian hatred and violence, often deadly.

Speaking at the parliamentary launch of the World Watch List, the Government’s UK Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, David Smith, said: “These freedoms, which we take for granted, are ones we should share with our international partners around the world.

“We mustn’t shy away from that. We’ve got to recommit ourselves to tackling persecution in every way that we can.”

Jeff King of International Christian Concern, which releases a separate annual spotlight on Christian persecution, said he is “reminded of the profound hope and resilience displayed by our brothers and sisters in Christ under unimaginable circumstances”.

“While the adversaries of faith seek to extinguish the Church, they only spread its flame.”

In Open Doors’ US version of its report, Manga, a Nigerian Christian, explained how God saved him after he refused to renounce his faith.

He told Boko Haram militants: “I live as a Christian, and I’m ready to die as Christian”, before he “felt the presence of God” and survived their attack.

Manga emphasised: “Your prayers should be for strength to remain firm, and that fire for Jesus, which is burning in our heart, should keep on burning.”

The victory of Western- and Israeli-backed Islamists in the long conflict in Syria has also created a rumbing crisis of persecution of Christians there too.

These problems, however, are not confined to Africa and Asia. In October, religious freedom experts highlighted the “increasing intolerance” towards those who hold religious beliefs on marriage, family, and sexual ethics in Europe and North America.

Organised to coincide with a Berlin meeting of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, the event featured the Religious Freedom Institute, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe and the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE).

Dr José Luis Bazán of COMECE said what has come to be known as ‘polite persecution’ has manifested itself in “compelling policies and legislation, as well as social pressure, that undermine and curtail Christians’ possibility to express and live according to their moral and religious principles in contemporary liberal societies”.

 



 

 

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