Latest report on Christian persecution cause for concern

By Josh Low

Christians continue to be the most persecuted religious group worldwide, according to the latest report from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Recently released, ACN’s report, ‘Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians Oppressed for their Faith’, outlines 18 countries in which Christians undergo active persecution for their faith.

Out of the 18 countries, only Vietnam has experienced a slight improvement in religious persecution against Christians, compared to the previous report on the period from 2020 to 2022.

The report offers five case studies describing instances of religious persecution, from Christian defectors in North Korea, and the burning down of a Christian quarter in Pakistan, to the murder of more than 300 Christians by militant Islamists in Nigeria on Christmas Eve last year.

“Even before the period under review in this report, evidence was already showing that persecution and oppression was getting worse,” the report states.

“Pew Research Center data for 2021 showed that Christians suffered religiously-motivated harassment ranging from verbal abuse through to killings in more countries than ever before – 160 in total, a rise of 50 countries since 2012.

“Not only were Christians experiencing fundamental human-rights violations in more countries than any other faith group but the gap between them and the next worst-affected religious group had significantly widened.”

The report explained that militant Islam, opportunistic caliphates, authoritarian regimes and increasingly weaponised legislation have all played a role in the persecution of Christians around the world.

Archbishop of Erbil, Iraq, Bashar Warda CSsR, said in his contribution to the report that, “the genocide that we suffered continues to cast a long shadow”.

“The Church is threatened with extinction in towns and cities where our presence dates back almost to the time of Christ.

“Meanwhile… Christians in other countries are today facing jihadist extremism, whether in Burkina Faso or Mozambique – and equally bitter is the oppression of believers by authoritarian regimes like China or Nicaragua.

“But the report also shows that after the onslaught Christians can rebuild their lives – just as we did in Iraq – and yet our communities here continue to face challenges due to the lack of livelihood programmes; it means the Church has to find money to support the key structures we have built in Kurdistan to ensure Christians stay and be the voice of Jesus in all Iraq.

“Our prayer is that those reading this report, whether governments or others with influence, will do more than just pay lip service to reports of Christian persecution; they must match their words with action – clear and decisive policy commitment – to help those whose only crime is the Faith they profess,” he said.

Each year ACN holds a worldwide event called Red Wednesday to raise awareness about the persecution of Christians. Important landmarks such as Notre Dame in Paris, the British Houses of Parliament in London, and the Colosseum in Rome, are bathed in red light, the liturgical colour of the martyrs, as a sign of solidarity with Christians around the world persecuted for their faith.

This year, Red Wednesday will be held on Wednesday 20 November, with the Archdiocese of Hobart participating for the fifth year. St Mary’s Cathedral in Hobart will be floodlit in red and Mass will be celebrated by the Archbishop at 6pm.