VIENNA (OSV News) -- With new reports by human rights organizations in Europe, it is clear that anti-Christian discrimination is a hot-button issue on the old continent, and on the rise.
The Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe revealed widespread intolerance and discrimination against Christians in Europe in its Nov. 15 report, published in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
OIDAC Europe identified 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes documented by police and civil society in 35 European countries in 2023, including 232 personal attacks on Christians, such as harassment, threats and physical violence.
These figures include data requested from governments, which found 1,230 anti-Christian hate crimes recorded by 10 European governments in 2023, up from 1,029 recorded by governments in 2022.
While only 10 European governments submitted data on anti-Christian hate crimes in 2023, civil society reported incidents from 26 European countries.
The report was published ahead of the Nov. 16 observance of International Day for Tolerance, which was established in 1996 by the United Nations General Assembly.
"Tragically and unsurprisingly," the report said, "acts of violence against Jewish and Muslim believers were particularly high," with 8,951 antisemitic and 5,987 anti-Muslim hate crimes recorded by governments in 2023.
According to OIDAC Europe, countries of particular concern were France, with nearly 1,000 anti-Christian hate crimes in 2023; the United Kingdom, where incidents rose to more than 700; and Germany, which saw a 105% increase in anti-Christian hate crimes, rising from 135 in 2022 to 277 in 2023.
In terms of church vandalism, German police recorded more than 2,000 cases of property damage to Christian places of worship in 2023.
Commenting on the new findings, Regina Polak, who is OSCE's representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, said: "Christians are the target of hate crimes across the OSCE region. The nature of these crimes ranges from (painting) graffiti to vandalism and physical assaults against Christians distributing religious materials."
Vandalism against churches is indeed the most common form of violence, with 62% of attacks against Christians of that kind, followed by cases of desecration, at 24%, beheading of religious statues, arson attacks and threats.
While physical violence remains relatively rare -- with 7% of cases of that kind reported -- "there have been some tragic cases in 2023, including the murder of a Catholic altar server by a jihadist terrorist in Algeciras (Spain), a car-ramming attack on a procession in Poland, and the attempted murder of a convert to Christianity from a Muslim background in the UK, who was considered by the perpetrator to be an 'apostate who deserved to die,'" the report said.
Meanwhile, 2024 already brought tragic cases of intolerance in Europe, as Father Juan Antonio Llorente, a Franciscan friar from the Gilet monastery in Spain's Valencia region, died Nov. 11 in a hospital, following the injuries he suffered Nov. 9 when a man entered the monastery and attacked the community. Seven other friars were wounded.
A week earlier, on Nov. 3, an elderly priest was attacked in Poland. Father Lech Lachowicz, 72, was attacked with an ax in his Szczytno parish rectory in northeastern Poland. A 27-year-old suspect has been taken into custody. Father Lachowicz died Nov. 9 following extensive brain injuries.
"Anti-Christian hate crimes send a message of exclusion to the victims and their communities, and to society as a whole," Polak said.
In addition to violent attacks, OIDAC's report also found discrimination against Christians in the workplace and in public life in some European countries.
"In particular, Christians who adhere to traditional religious beliefs face increasing discrimination and hostility, ranging from bullying at work to the loss of employment”, explained Anja Hoffmann, executive director of OIDAC Europe.
"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," she added.
"OIDAC Europe sees these trends as one of the reasons for increasing self-censorship among Christians in Europe," the report said.
According to a 2024 survey from the U.K., only 36% of Christians under the age of 35 said they felt free to express their Christian views on social issues at work.
The past year has also seen a number of restrictions on religious freedom by European governments, OIDAC Europe said, ranging from bans on religious processions to the targeting of Christians for the peaceful expression of their religious beliefs.
"Particularly shocking was the case of a man who was prosecuted in the UK for praying silently in his own mind in a public street in a so-called 'buffer zone' near an abortion clinic," the report said, referring to the case of Adam Smith-Connor, a British army veteran whom a court has convicted of violating a "buffer zone" around an abortion clinic after he prayed silently within the boundary.
Smith-Connor was given a conditional discharge Oct. 16 -- in which a fine or prison sentence will be imposed if he repeats his offense in the next two years -- and ordered to pay prosecution costs of 9,000 British pounds (US $11,700).
"This and similar cases have raised international concern, including from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom," OIDAC Europe stressed.
"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," Hoffmann concluded.
In light of "prevalent high numbers of anti-Christian hate crimes in Europe," Hoffmann furthermore stressed the necessity of coordinated efforts, including through the creation of the position of an EU coordinator combating anti-Christian hatred, similar to the existing mandates on combating antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred.
Polak underlined that 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."
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