A new study has found that attacks and discrimination against Christians increased across Europe in 2024, including several cases of murder. The findings come from the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe), based in Vienna.
According to the report, there were 274 physical assaults on Christians last year, up from 232 the year before. In total, more than 2,200 anti-Christian offences were recorded in 2024, most of them targeting churches and religious sites in France, the UK, Germany and Spain.
Presenting the data to the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Freedom of Religion, Belief and Conscience on 18 November, OIDAC Europe director Anja Tang highlighted a pattern of growing hostility. She warned that Christians were not only facing violence but also an increasing number of legal challenges for expressing their faith publicly. She pointed to the case of Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen, who has been in court repeatedly since 2019 for sharing a Bible verse.
The report detailed several fatal incidents. They included the killing of a 76-year-old friar in a monastery in eastern Spain last November, and the stabbing of Iraqi-born Christian Ashur Sarnaya in Lyon in September 2025. Sarnaya, an Assyrian believer who used a wheelchair and had fled persecution by Islamic State, was attacked while livestreaming outside his home. In January, a gunman linked to Islamic State shot and killed a worshipper during Sunday Mass at a Catholic church in Istanbul.
OIDAC Europe said violence against clergy remains underreported. In Poland, nearly half of surveyed priests said they had experienced aggression, yet most had not informed police.
The report also identified a growing number of restrictions on religious expression. These include bans on public prayer, criminal prosecutions for voicing Christian beliefs, pressures on religious autonomy, limits on conscientious objection, and cases involving parental rights.
One example cited was a Finnish ruling in March in which an elderly Christian couple were convicted of “assault” for praying with a young man who had asked for pastoral support. The court accepted his claim that the prayer caused psychological harm.
Throughout Europe, Christians also continue to face charges for silent prayer or offering voluntary conversation near abortion facilities. In Spain alone, at least 20 people have faced prosecution since 2022 for praying close to clinics. Other cases involved charges related to traditional Christian teachings on sexuality.
France recorded the highest number of anti-Christian incidents in Europe. The first half of 2025 saw a 13 percent rise compared with the previous year, including the arrest of a man suspected of planning an Islamic State-inspired attack on Notre-Dame Cathedral and the desecration of 50 graves in southern France marked with Islamist graffiti.
Germany saw a 22 percent increase in anti-Christian hate crimes in 2024, following a significant rise the previous year. The country also recorded the highest number of arson attacks on churches and Christian property.
Spain saw violent attacks against Christians double, and reports of vandalism targeting church buildings rose by 12 percent.
In the UK, a 2024 inquiry by the Commission of Inquiry into Discrimination Against Christians found that more than half of surveyed Christians had faced hostility for expressing their beliefs, particularly in the workplace. The commission noted that many Christians declined to participate in the study due to fear of stigma.
OIDAC Europe’s report also raised concerns about negative portrayals of Christians in the media and further highlighted infringements on religious freedom in territories occupied by Russia in Ukraine.
During the European Parliament meeting, Intergroup co-chairs Bert-Jan Ruissen and Miriam Lexmann urged the EU to act. The Intergroup called for three measures: the appointment of a European Coordinator for combating attacks on Christians, improved data collection by member states, and EU funding equivalent to that provided for tackling antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred.
Adapted from CDI.
