By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-11-18 22:40:54 | Updated at 2024-11-21 12:56:17
2 days ago
CV NEWS FEED // A religious liberty watchdog has just released a new report on persecution of Christians in Europe, revealing that anti-Christian hate crimes rose to 2,500 in 2023.
In a press release dated November 15, 2024, the Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) revealed alarming findings on anti-Christian hate crimes across the continent. According to the report, titled “Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe Report 2024,” 2,444 such incidents were documented by police and civil society organizations in 35 European countries during 2023, including 232 cases of personal attacks, such as harassment, threats, and physical violence.
The release noted that the ODIHR/OSCE (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights/Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) Hate Crime Data Report, published the same day, corroborated these findings, identifying 1,230 anti-Christian hate crimes reported by 10 European governments in 2023 — an increase from 1,029 in 2022. Civil society organizations reported incidents from an additional 26 countries, underscoring the pervasive nature of the problem.
“As far as anti-Christian hate crimes are concerned, we have registered 2,444 cases for 2023, but assume a high number of unreported cases,” said Anja Homann, executive director of OIDAC Europe.
Particularly concerning were the numbers reported in countries like France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. France recorded nearly 1,000 incidents, and the UK saw more than 700 cases. Germany experienced a 105% rise in anti-Christian hate crimes, from 135 incidents in 2022 to 277 in 2023. German police also documented more than 2,000 cases of vandalism against Christian places of worship during the year.
Commenting on these statistics, Regina Polak, OSCE representative on combating racism, xenophobia, and discrimination, stated: “Christians are the target of hate crimes across the OSCE region [of Europe]. The nature of these crimes ranges from graffiti to vandalism and physical assaults against Christians distributing religious materials.”
>> ‘RED WEDNESDAY’ EVENTS TO BE HELD IN OVER 20 COUNTRIES TO RAISE AWARENESS OF CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION <<
Vandalism against churches emerged as the most common form of anti-Christian violence, comprising 62% of recorded incidents. Among these, 24% involved desecration, including beheading religious statues, while 10% were arson attacks. Other incidents included threats (8%) and physical violence (7%).
Tragic cases in 2023 included the murder of a Catholic altar server by a jihadist terrorist in Spain, a car-ramming attack on a religious procession in Poland, and the attempted murder of a Christian convert in the UK by someone who deemed them an “apostate.”
In addition to violent crimes, the report highlighted rising discrimination against Christians in the workplace and public life. Christians with traditional religious beliefs faced increasing hostility, with cases of workplace bullying, job loss, and legal action over expressing religious views.
“It is very worrying that the peaceful expression of personal religious beliefs, for example on matters relating to marriage and family, has become the potential end of a political career or employment, or even the beginning of a court case,” Homann said.
The report also underscored a growing trend of self-censorship among Christians in Europe. A 2024 survey in the UK found that only 36% of Christians under the age of 35 felt free to express their views on social issues at work.
Restrictions on religious freedom by European governments were also noted, such as bans on religious processions and targeting individuals for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. One cited example involved a man prosecuted in the UK for silently praying near an abortion clinic in a public space.
Homann called for coordinated efforts to address these trends, proposing the establishment of an EU Coordinator to combat anti-Christian hatred, similar to existing positions for combating antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred.
“These trends should alert us all to step up efforts to protect freedom of religion or belief, including the freedom to openly and respectfully discuss different philosophical and religious viewpoints on sensitive issues, without fear of reprisal and censorship,” she said.
In her concluding remarks, Polak emphasized the need for governments and civil society to take these issues more seriously.
“The increase of discrimination and hate crimes against Christians in Europe must be taken more seriously by governments and civil society and needs profound research to understand its specific nature and causes,” she said, encouraging victims to report incidents to ODIHR and make use of the organization’s guidance to combat anti-Christian hate crimes.
