Christians around the world facing rising levels of persecution, according to World Watch List

The report counted 209,771 Christians displaced because of their faith and 54,780 Christians physically or mentally abused

Around 380 million Christians face “very high or extreme levels” of persecution or discrimination worldwide, according to Open Doors International, which advocates on behalf of persecuted Christians. That is one in seven Christians across the world. However, one in five Christians is persecuted in Africa and two in five in Asia.

The annual Open Doors World Watch List revealed that almost 4,500 Christians were killed for their faith in 2024, 69 per cent of whom were in Nigeria. Nigeria, ranked seventh, remains “among the most urgently dangerous places for Christians on earth,” according to the report, primarily because of violent attacks by Islamic, ethnic Fulani militias in the country’s northern states. The attacks are meant to drive Christian communities off the land they farm.

North Korea remains the most dangerous country to be Christian, followed by Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.

Christians around the world are being attacked and killed, forced to flee and driven underground, the annual report found. Causes of persecution include Islamic extremism, authoritarian regimes and conflict. In sub-Saharan countries, Islamic jihadist militants have benefited from unstable governments to seize control of specific areas. All 15 countries of the sub-Saharan region were among the top 50 list, and 13 had “extremely high” persecution scores.

The report counted 209,771 Christians displaced because of their faith and 54,780 Christians physically or mentally abused, 10,000 of whom lived in Pakistan.

While Gaza and the West Bank were not ranked, the report collected stories from there too. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, Christian communities in Gaza are on the brink of extinction, with nearly all their houses destroyed. Christians in the West Bank, who represent about 1 percent of the population, have also been affected by stricter travel limitations imposed by the Israeli government.

Speaking at the Westminster parliamentary launch of the World Watch List on 15 January – attended by 102 MPs – , the Government’s UK Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, David Smith MP, said: “These freedoms, which we take for granted, are ones we should share with our international partners around the world. We mustn’t shy away from that. We’ve got to recommit ourselves to tackling persecution in every way that we can.”

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The Archbishop of Abuja blamed the persistent persecution of Christians in Nigeria on weak leadership.

In its annual World Watch List report published on 15 January, the charity Open Doors said Nigeria remained the most dangerous place to be a Christian.  It found that 3,100 Christians were killed and 2,830 kidnapped in Nigeria in 2024, far more than other country.

However, a report from Aid to the Church in Need published on 13 January found some improvement in Nigeria, with the number of abductions of priests and Religious down from 25 in 2023 to 11 in 2024.

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja said the authorities had failed to address violence against Christians over a long period of time.

“The spate of killings, kidnappings, and destruction of Church personnel and facilities in Nigeria is a continuation of a situation Nigerians have had to deal with for many years,” he said in response to the 2024 reports.

“Catholic priests and religious have been targeted because of their active participation in politics, their efforts to strengthen Christianity, their role in educating citizens about their rights and privileges, and the large ransoms obtained from the relatives of these priests when they are kidnapped. The attacks are not limited to ordained clergy, those training for the priesthood have also been targeted.”

He explained that poor leadership at all levels of government – local, state and federal – had allowed this to continue, with worsening economic and social conditions driving crime and instability. “This reflects in the increasing level of poverty, irrespective of religious affiliation,” he said.

Kaigama argued that despite the incessant attacks on Christians, “the faith is growing by leaps and bounds in Nigeria”.  There are 30 million Catholics among Nigeria’s population of 200 million.

“Despite the threats to priests and religion, vocations are booming, seminaries are full, and there is no place outside of the areas of conflict where churches are closing and consolidating, but rather what we see is an exponential growth at all levels,” the archbishop told The Tablet.

He said that “persecution is part of the DNA of the Church. The Church was born in persecution and the Church will always be persecuted. We will, therefore, not be deterred and we are hopeful that the Lord is on our side and in this spirit, we will keep marching on.”

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