Juan Ignacio GonzalezBishop of St. Bernard: "It is not clear what religious freedom is".Anja Hoffmann: "Discrimination against Christians in Europe has increased significantly".The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) has published its annual report 2024 (referring to 2023). According to the organization, during that year more than 2,400 attacks against Christians took place in Europa.
A comparison of last year's data with those of 1013 shows a slight increase in threats and aggressions (verbal and physical) against religious freedom. However, the lack of data provided by some countries makes it difficult to know exactly the magnitude of this increasingly common problem on the continent.
OIDAC notes in its report that the countries in which the most anti-Christian crimes occurred were France, the United Kingdom and Germany. These crimes range from acts of vandalism to physical assaults. The data provided by the Observatory indicate that "the most common forms of violence were vandalism against churches (62 %) (...) arson (10 %) and threats (8 %).
Christians in public life
Attacks against Christians are also increasing in the work environment, where more and more believers feel they suffer some form of discrimination because of their faith. The OIDAC document states that "according to a 2024 survey conducted in the UK, only 36 % of Christians under the age of 35 said they felt free to express their Christian views on social issues at work."
Particular attacks are not the only thing that worries the Observatory. They denounce that "the past year also saw a series of restrictions on religious freedom by European governments, from the banning of religious processions to the persecution of Christians for the peaceful expression of their religious beliefs."
In addition to providing data, the report by OIDAC includes concrete examples of attacks against the freedom of Christians, at work, at university, in the temple or in the street. It also mentions attacks made on social networks and television programs. In fact, some studies show that the Christian religion is the most criticized religion in the media.
Lack of freedom
All these events have led to the rise of the "self-censorship" phenomenon, an increasingly pronounced tendency, especially among young Christians, not to give their opinion in public spaces for fear of reprisals.
Another issue included in the report is the lack of freedom suffered by parents to educate their children in the Christian faith, as well as the cuts in the autonomy of the Church that Belgium, for example, is suffering.
OIDAC concludes that attacks against Christians are on the rise and physical assaults are becoming more frequent. This violence shows a direct attack on Christian values, which the Observatory recommends to alleviate through awareness raising, legislative reform and training of Christians.
