Bad Conditions for Christians in Europe
The Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Omer devastated by arson on September 2, 2024
An updated assessment of anti-Christian acts on the Old Continent, just published by the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe), reveals an alarming erosion of religious tolerance, particularly against Catholicism, in a region celebrated as the birthplace of pluralism and freedom.
“Combining police statistics and civil society data, 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes were identified in 35 European countries, including 232 personal attacks on Christians.”
The report just published by OIDAC at the end of November 2024 is quite concerning.
With 2,444 incidents recorded in 35 European countries, the results—which cover anti-Christian acts perpetrated in 2023—reveal an alarming increase in contempt for Catholics, in a region considered to be the “birthplace of freedom.”
The report documents 232 cases of direct attacks: among them, numerous desecrated churches, vandalized statues or images of Christ and the saints, a sacristan who lost his life in a jihadist attack, a Catholic convert from Islam who survived a murder attempt for being an “apostate”...
The year 2023 stands out with a sharp increase in acts perpetrated against Catholicism in countries with Christian roots. According to figures provided by OIDAC Europe, it appears that the countries most affected by this anti-Christian upsurge are: France, with almost 1,000 criminal acts recorded for the year 2023; the UK in second place, with around 700 anti-Christian acts; followed by Germany, which has seen a 105% increase in hate crimes, from 135 in 2022 to 277 in 2023.
In addition to violent attacks, there is growing discrimination against Christians in the workplace and the public sphere in several European countries, leading to an increase in a form of self-censorship among Christians in Europe.
The year 2023 has also seen a number of restrictions on religious freedoms by several European governments, ranging from the banning of religious processions to the prosecution of Christians for the peaceful expression of their religious beliefs and ethical positions, notably on the issue of abortion.
This growing hostility is taking place against a backdrop of dislocation of the Catholic matrix, particularly in France, due to the combined effects of secularization and the powerlessness of the ecclesiastical hierarchy to embody the fullness of Catholicism within society. This is a challenge we would like to see taken up by the political class.
(Sources : OIDAC Europe/OSCE – FSSPX.Actualités)
Illustration : Fondation du Patrimoine
