ROME — The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) noted in its annual report Thursday that Christian persecution has been “sharply on the rise” and “its terrible impacts have only begun to be felt.”
“The merciless targeting of Christians — driven by hatred of Christians and the faith itself — emerges as a common denominator in hundreds of testimonies of persecution,” ACN declares in the report.
Today, “almost 340 million Christians around the world — or 1 out of every 7 — live in a country where they suffer some form of persecution, such as arbitrary arrest, violence, a full range of human rights violations and even murder,” the report states.
In its global efforts, ACN “is committed to chronicling and assessing the evolving phenomenon of the persecution of Christians around the world today,” it declares.
File/The body of a Christian resident killed in an attack by gunmen is moved to a hospital in Quetta on April 2, 2018. Four Christians were killed and a child injured in what officials say was a targeted attack against the religious minority group in the Pakistan. (BANARAS KHAN/AFP/Getty)
ACN also offers a definition of Christian persecution as “the mistreatment, discrimination, oppression, or violence directed towards individuals or communities who identify as Christians or follow the Christian faith.”
Such persecution “involves the infringement of their basic human rights, such as the freedom of worship, expression, and assembly, due to their religious beliefs and practices,” it adds.
Regarding the diverse drivers of Christian persecution worldwide, the report states that Christians are primarily persecuted “because of their faith” but economic and political situations “further deepen this problem.”
“In some countries, Christians are seen as a threat to the ruling government, and their persecution is a way to maintain control,” the report says, observing that some 4.5 billion people around the globe live under authoritarian regimes where religious freedom is not respected.
Moreover, in many countries, “cultural and religious intolerance fuel Christian persecution,” it states, noting that in particular 1.1 billion people live in 21 countries where Islamic extremism is the norm.
Finally, in some countries, Christianity “is seen as a foreign or Western religion, hence it faces hostility and violence,” the report finds, with some 1.5 billion people living in these circumstances in countries like India, where Hindu nationalism is on the rise.
As a continent, Africa is the most violent against Christians due to a rise in violent jihadist activity, the report states, Christians in Africa increasingly “confront extremist, Islamist violence.”
In Nigeria, for instance, there is a concerted effort to “wipe away Christianity,” and between January 2021 and June 2022, Islamist Fulani raiders “attacked Christian villages in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, resulting in the deaths of more than 7,600 Christians.”
At present, there are more than a million internally displaced persons in Burkina Faso, the report adds, “many of whom are Christians fleeing jihadist violence.”
Throughout Africa, “Christians face social alienation and persecution,” ACN observes. In countries like the Central African Republic, “some women are forced into marrying Muslims and end up separated from their children.”
In Sudan, a number of Christians were arrested last year and punished for apostasy, while Church leaders were detained. Meanwhile, in Algeria, “any kind of promotion or public display of Christianity is illegal,” the report states.