Christians persecuted and also ignoredSpain joins international REDWEEK for persecuted Christians"The persecution of Christians has raised profound questions even in environments outside the faith."Open Doors International, an institution dedicated to studying the reality of persecuted Christians around the world, has recently launched the World Watch List 2025, a tool that analyzes the degree of persecution of Christians around the world. Christianophobia toward Christians in 76 countries. The period evaluated runs from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
The worst places
Among the countries with "extreme persecution", the ten most critical are:
- North Korea
- Somalia
- Yemen
- Libya
- Sudan
- Eritrea
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Iran
- Afghanistan
Latin America: an emerging hotbed of persecution
The World Persecution List 2025 has revealed alarming data for Latin America, highlighting that four countries in the region are among the 50 most dangerous for Christians. This scenario evidences a worrying trend of limiting religious freedom in a continent traditionally marked by its Christian heritage.
In the classification, Cuba ranks 26th, making it the Latin American country with the highest level of persecution. The situation reflects a context in which government restrictions and ideological control directly affect Christian communities.
Followed by NicaraguaThis result confirms the deterioration of freedoms in the country, where the Church has been the target of harassment for its role in denouncing government abuses.
Only one place behind Nicaragua is MexicoThe persecution is centered mainly in rural regions, where Christians face violence from organized crime and conflicts arising from community traditions.
Finally, Colombiaranked 46th, faces a complex combination of violence by armed groups, corruption and social pressure that hinders the free practice of the Christian faith.
In addition, other countries in the region, such as Honduras y Venezuelaappear outside the top 50, but with significant levels of difficulty for Christians.
Data not to forget
Some of the most relevant data from the report can be highlighted:
- More than 380 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination because of their faith.
- 1 out of every 7 Christians in the world is persecuted.
- 1 in 5 Christians is persecuted in Africa.
- 2 out of 5 Christians are persecuted in Asia.
- 1 in 16 Christians are persecuted in Latin America.
- 4476 Christians killed.
- 7679 churches attacked.
- 4744 Christians detained.
Methodology and data access
The report is prepared by the research department at Open Doorsknown as World Watch Research. This analysis includes a detailed country dossier, as well as the methodology used, available on the Open Doors Analytical website. To access the complete documents, users must enter the password freedom.
