Metro Voice News Celebrating Faith, Family & Community
Hate crimes against Christians are soaring in Europe. A new report cited 2,444 incidents in 2023, including 232 personal attacks on Christians, ranging from harassment and threats to physical violence.
These incidents took place in countries including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, which experienced some of the highest numbers of recorded incidents. France saw nearly 1,000 anti-Christian hate crimes in 2023. The majority of these attacks, about 90 percent, were aimed at churches and cemeteries. Further, French authorities documented 84 personal attacks on individuals.
The United Kingdom also faced a significant number of incidents, with 702 cases reported in England and Wales between April 2023 and March 2024. This represented a 15 percent increase compared to the previous year. One particularly shocking attack occurred against Javed Nouri, a Christian convert from a Muslim background, who narrowly survived an attempted murder by his roommate, who viewed him as an “apostate who deserved to die.”
Germany witnessed a 105 percent increase in anti-Christian hate crimes, rising from 135 incidents in 2022 to 277 in 2023. However, the German government’s official statistics include only politically motivated hate crimes, excluding vandalism or arson attacks without political motives. There were at least 2,000 cases of damage to Christian places of worship in Germany in 2023, marking a worrying trend of escalating violence against Christian religious institutions across the country.
The most common form of violence was vandalism, accounting for 62 percent of the incidents, including numerous cases involving desecration. Arson attacks made up 10 percent; threats, 8 percent; and physical violence, 7 percent. One case of murder, seven attempted murders and 68 personal attacks on Christians were motivated by anti-Christian bias.
The report also pointed to discrimination against Christians in public life and the workplace. Christian politicians, in particular, have faced discrimination for their personal beliefs, sometimes being forced to choose between their political careers and their faith. This type of workplace discrimination, along with other pressures, has led to an increasing trend of self-censorship among Christians, particularly younger individuals, who often hide their beliefs to avoid confrontation or harassment.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
