by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – An annual report by the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) shows there were “2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes” across 35 European countries in 2023, Christianity Today (CT) reports.
Published in November, the OIDAC annual report shows that the most affected countries were France (1,000 incidents), the United Kingdom (over 700 incidents), and Germany (277 incidents), CT reports.
“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,” Anja Hoffmann, executive director of OIDAC Europe, said in a press release.
Noting that hostility toward Christians in Europe does not generate the same kind of attention that the persecution of believers in other parts of the world does, Christof Sauer, senior consultant and former founding director for the International Institute for Religious Freedom, told CT: “It is particularly challenging to attract attention for discrimination against Christians in Europe, compared to the discrimination of minority groups such as Jews and Muslims.”
“Secularists might regard Christians in Europe as those in power, as ‘perpetrators’ of violence from a historical perspective, and might have a hard time acknowledging victimhood,” Sauer said. “There is an increasing degree of religious illiteracy in Europe, and understanding of the broad scope of religious freedom often is limited.”
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Tuesday that it has completed deployment of ground troops along a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon — dubbed the “anti-tank line” — aimed at preventing Hezbollah from launching direct missile attacks on northern Israeli communities.
The Pentagon is preparing to request approximately $4.5 billion in fiscal year 2027 to replenish its stockpile of Tomahawk cruise missile, highlighting growing pressure on U.S. military resources after sustained global operations.
Russia and China vetoed a resolution at the United Nations Security Council aimed at protecting navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, despite overwhelming support from 11 member nations.
xplosions were reported Tuesday on Iran’s strategic Kharg Island, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency, as tensions escalate ahead of a U.S. deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
A Nigerian church group has denied army claims that troops rescued dozens of Christians abducted during a deadly Easter attack, as conflicting reports emerged about the number of victims in northwestern Kaduna State.
Ukraine says a barrage of Russian drone attacks has killed at least four people and injured many others, casting a shadow over Easter celebrations in the war-torn country.
Hungary says it has rushed troops to protect its section of a natural gas pipeline after the government accused Ukraine of attempting to sabotage it ahead of Tuesday’s arrival of U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Budapest.