New report highlights extent of anti-Christian persecution worldwide

 

More than half of the world’s population lives in countries where religious believers experience persecution, according to a new report by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Christians are the most persecuted religious group globally.

The ACN report sheds light on the dire situation faced by many religious believers.

The period under review (January 2021 – December 2022) was dominated by Covid-19 and it was “especially catastrophic for a number of religious minorities who were targeted with impunity while international attention was elsewhere”, according to the report editor, Marcela Szymanski.

The report found that in 61 countries, citizens faced severe violations of religious freedom. The two most populous countries in the world, China and India, are among the worst religious freedom violators.

Christians, partly because they are numerous and widespread, are the most persecuted religious group globally. In many countries, they face systematic oppression, violent attacks, and severe restrictions on their religious freedoms. This persecution is driven by various factors, including authoritarian regimes, extremist groups, and socio-political conflicts.

Reported aggressions against Jews also increased in the West in the period under review (2021-22).

In the Middle East, Christians continue to suffer immensely. Iraq and Syria, once home to vibrant Christian communities, have seen dramatic declines in their Christian populations due to ongoing conflict and targeted attacks by extremist groups like ISIS. Many Christians in these regions are internally displaced or have fled to other countries as refugees.

Africa is another hotspot for anti-Christian violence. In large countries like Nigeria, Christians are frequently targeted by Boko Haram and other Islamist militant groups. The report highlights numerous incidents of churches being attacked, clergy being kidnapped or killed, and Christian communities living in constant fear.

In Asia, Christians face persecution in several countries, including China, India, and Pakistan. In China, the government’s stringent control over religious practices and crackdown on house churches have severely restricted Christians’ ability to worship freely. India has seen a rise in Hindu nationalist violence against Christians, with increasing reports of forced conversions, church demolitions, and physical assaults. In Pakistan, blasphemy laws continue to be a significant threat to Christians, with accusations often leading to mob violence and lengthy imprisonments.

“No Western nation can truthfully claim they do not know about the abuses occurring in the Arabian Peninsula, China, Pakistan and Nigeria,” the report says. “With the West looking the other way, often motivated by the need to guarantee the provision of natural and energy resources, the perpetrators become more assertive and make local legislation more restrictive. In this way, impunity is tacitly granted to perpetrators by the ‘international community’.”

Despite these challenges, the resilience of Christian communities is remarkable. Many continue to practice their faith courageously, even in the face of persecution. One example is Sr Gloria Cecilia Narváez Argoty, a Franciscan sister who wrote the Foreword of the ACN report. Sr Gloria worked specially with women in a Muslim-majority region in southern Mali and was kidnapped for almost five years. In the report, she gives a moving account of her experience.

The report calls for increased international attention and action to protect religious freedoms. It urges governments and international organisations to hold perpetrators accountable and to support initiatives that promote religious tolerance and coexistence.

ACN emphasises the importance of solidarity with persecuted Christians. It encourages advocacy efforts, humanitarian aid, and interfaith dialogue as crucial steps toward alleviating the plight of persecuted religious communities.

China is cracking down on all religious believers, including Christians

 

The Uyghur Muslim population of China is being savagely persecuted by the Chinese State, but an overall crackdown on religious believers, including Christians, is taking place, and has been intensifying.

In its report, ‘Persecuted and Forgotten’, Aid to the Church in Need describes how President Xi Jinping has called Christianity “a foreign infiltration”. It refers to “increased hostility to Church communities, accused of resisting government control, has resulted in the widespread removal of crosses from churches and the destruction of church buildings. Some regional authorities have banned Christmas trees and greetings cards.”

The report goes on to say: “There has been a renewed crackdown on Church leaders considered dissidents by the regime, notably Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin of Mindong and Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin”, who has been repeated harassed.

A report issued last year by the Pew Forum, listed China as placing the worst restrictions on religious freedom of any country it could measure. (It did not measure North Korea, which is undoubtedly worse, because it is a closed society).

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom found a similar picture in its latest report.

On the situation of Christians in China specifically, it points out: “Chinese authorities raided or closed down hundreds of Protestant house churches in 2019, including Rock Church in Henan Province and Shouwang Church in Beijing.”

It describes how, in December 2018, the government “a court charged Pastor Wang Yi with ‘subversion of state power’ and sentenced him to nine years imprisonment.”

It goes on: “Local authorities continued to harass and detain bishops, including Guo Xijin and Cui Tai, who refused to join the state-affiliated Catholic association.”

It says: “Several local governments, including Guangzho city, offered cash bounties for individuals who informed on underground churches. In addition, authorities across the country have removed crosses from churches, banned youth under the age of 18 from participating in religious services, and replaced images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary with pictures of President Xi Jinping”.

These are the worst crackdowns since the time of Chairman Mao.

It seems hard to imagine for those of us who live in a free world that in China the Bible and other religious texts have been removed from online booksellers, including Amazon.  To circumvent internet censorship, Christian organisations have to drop the name of ‘Jesus’ from book titles and replace it with initials or with other expressions.

Christians have been arrested for selling audio Bibles. From a legal point of view, the book can only be distributed by the agencies approved by the government that supervise and control the activities of Christian churches.

As a result of censorship, many religious bookstores have closed their activities or operate clandestinely.

‘Bitter Winter’ is a magazine covering religious freedom and human rights in Asia, particularly in China.

They report that churches are constantly asked to remove religious symbols and paintings inside, and the cross outside, and to replace them with party symbols such as the five-pointed star or the communist party flag.

Those who refuse to join the state-approved Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association are subjected to all sorts of discrimination. Non-approved churches and meeting avenues are systematically shut down.

For instance, in the city of Wenzhou, with a population of 9 million, over 1,600 churches have had their crosses being burnt or destroyed, according to China Aid, a US group that helps the persecuted Christians.

Even for State-approved churches it is very hard to practice the faith. Local officials impose various sanctions or restrictions to limit religious activities.

According to the Christian Post, “To discourage churches from meeting for the holidays, government officials required a state-sanctioned Catholic church in Jiangsu province’s Wuxi city to obtain approval from at least eight offices before it was permitted to hold Christmas mass.”

Those of us who live in the West have little idea of the suffering of millions of people in the biggest country of the world. It is not an exaggeration to claim that never in history so many Christian believers have been oppressed by a despotic and atheistic regime.

Western countries tend to ignore or downsize the atrocities happening in China, for economic interests or for fear of a powerful state that has a strong influence internationally. But how can we deal with a regime that negates religious freedom and at the same claim we believe in human rights? The freedom to practice your faith is one of the most fundamental human rights. It is time for Ireland and other countries to denounce the brutalities experienced by religious believers in China, including Christians, and to act accordingly, even if it hurts trade.

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