ROME — The global persecution of Christians rose sharply in 2023, according to the 2024 World Watch List (WWL) published Wednesday by Open Doors Christian charity.
More than 365 million Christians worldwide suffer “high levels” of persecution and discrimination for their faith, WWL reveals, which means that one in seven Christians are persecuted because of their faith.
During 2023, 4,998 Christians were killed in connection with practicing their faith, counting only the number of reported cases, WWL found.
Attacks on the homes of Christians nearly quadrupled (+371 percent) from 2022 to 2023, rising from 4,547 to 21,431, and the number of attacks on churches, Christian schools, and hospitals jumped sevenfold, from 2,110 in 2022 to 14,766 in 2023.
Moreover, 42,849 Christians suffered physical violence or death threats in the course of the year, and 278,716 Christians were driven from their homes or forced to go underground. This represents more than double the figure from 2022 (124,310).
Topping the World Watch List, which ranks the 50 most dangerous countries for Christians, is once again North Korea, which also occupied the number one spot in the 2023 WWL findings.
North Korea is an officially atheist country run by a brutal communist regime that is particularly hostile to Christians. As WWL notes, being discovered to be a Christian in North Korea “is effectively a death sentence.”
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang, North Korea, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024 (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP).
Outed Christians are either killed on the spot or deported to labor camps as political criminals, where they face a life of hard labor that few survive, the report observes. Tens of thousands of Christians are estimated to be held in labor camps across the country.
In North Korea, Christians have no freedom, and it is nearly impossible for believers to gather or meet to worship. Even possessing a Bible is a serious crime that will be severely punished, the report states.
Nine out of the top ten countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian have Muslim majorities, and radical Islam continues to be the most powerful driver of Christian persecution around the globe.
Somalia, for instance, which ranks second on the list, has seen a significant increase in anti-Christian violence over the past year. Islamic militants “have increasingly focused on identifying and eliminating Christian leaders,” WWL reports, and even the suspicion of conversion from Islam to Christianity puts a person’s life in peril.
The militant Muslim terror group al-Shabab, headquartered in Somalia, has repeatedly expressed its desire to eradicate Christians from the country, and when discovered, believers are often killed on the spot.
Libya leapt to the number three position on the 2024 World Watch List because of an increase in pressure and violence against Christians. The absence of a single central government to impose law and order in the country has made the situation even more precarious for Christians because radical Muslim groups can act with relative impunity.
Christians from Sub-Saharan Africa, many of whom come to Libya as displaced people trying to get to Europe, face particular risk, the report notes, and due to their lack of official status, they are especially vulnerable to kidnapping and trafficking.
Thomas D. Williams is Breitbart Rome Bureau Chief and author of The Coming Christian Persecution.
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