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
U.S. President Donald J. Trump on Friday ordered all federal agencies to phase out their use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology from Anthropic, a leading U.S.-based AI firm valued at about $15 billion, following a high-profile dispute with the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, over military use of the technology.
Evangelist Franklin Graham, who has close ties to the White House, urged Americans on Saturday to pray for the U.S. military, which together with Israel’s forces began striking Iran earlier in the day.
Federal authorities have arrested 25 individuals in connection with a January 18 anti-ICE protest that disrupted services at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the U.S. Armed Forces have launched a sweeping coordinated military campaign dubbed “Operation Roaring Lion,” targeting what Israeli officials describe as existential threats posed by the Iranian regime.
The U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran early Saturday, prompting a swift Iranian missile response that rocked northern Israel with explosions, witnesses said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and the United States have launched a joint military operation against Iran aimed at ending what he described as the threat posed by Tehran’s leadership.
U.S. President Donald Trump made clear Friday that while he is frustrated with Iran’s posture in nuclear negotiations, he is not rushing blindly into conflict — even as American military assets continue to mass across the Middle East.