Christians have become one of the most persecuted religious groups in the world according to figures from charity Open Doors which claims that per month on average around 345 Christians are murdered globally because of their beliefs.
The Christian charity, which is based in the United States, has revealed that per month at least 105 churches or places of worship are vandalised or set on fire and approximately 219 Christians are put on trial or sent to prison for expressing their faith in the Christian Gospels, Italian newspaper Il Giornale reports.
Open Doors is not the only organisation to highlight the growing persecution of Christians. Vatican-linked Aid to the Church in Need (ACS) has also noted that up to one in seven Christians lives in countries where they could meet the threat of violence or even be put on trial and face prison sentences or even death for professing Christian beliefs.
According to a report by Open Doors released earlier this year, a total of 245 million Christians face some sort of persecution and the group claimed that in 2018, 4,136 Christians were killed because of their religious convictions.
The group also notes the main cause of the violence with David Curry, the president and CEO of Open Doors saying, “Radical Islam is the driver behind eight of the top 10 on the World Watch List this year, four of which are from Africa.”
The Easter weekend attacks in Sri Lanka, which saw nearly 300 people killed, are also believed to be linked to radical Islam, with Islamic State propaganda outlet Amaq Agency taking credit for the attack on Tuesday.
In Europe Christians are increasingly coming under attack as well. In recent months France has seen a wave of attacks on churches, with reports claiming that an average of three churches and other places of worship are attacked per day.
Christian converts, particularly those converting from Islam, have also been the victims of threats and even violence. In March, converts in the Netherlands claimed they received threats of violence nearly every day.