The report reveals that 4,476 Christians were killed for faith-related causes last year. It also reveals that among the 100 nations monitored ‘the escalation of persecution in absolute terms is confirmed, maintaining the impressive acceleration of the last 12 years’.
There are 13 countries with a zero tolerance policy towards Christians, with North Korea in the lead, followed by Somalia, Yemen and Libya. Also on the list is Saudi Arabia, where, however, there is a small positive note: in religious freedom there has been small progress and, especially in large cities, there is greater tolerance.
In the ‘Open Doors’ report there is some positive data, even if the numbers are still dismaying: the number of Christian churches or properties attacked, closed or confiscated has almost halved from 14,766 to 7,679. On the other hand, there has been an increase in the number of Christians detained or sentenced for reasons related to their beliefs: from 4,125 to 4,744.
Unfortunately, violence against women is on the rise. Those discovered by ‘Open Doors’ numbered 3,944, but the number is probably higher. Forced marriages of young Christian women are also on the rise: 821 cases have been recorded so far, but even these, unfortunately, are only calculated by default.
The complete report is available on the ‘Open Doors’ website.
