Christians are the most persecuted religious believers worldwide, with one in seven affected, said the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva. Source: Vatican News.
Archbishop Ettore Balestrero told the “Standing with Persecuted Christians: Defending the Faith and Christian Values” event on March 3 that almost 400 million Christians worldwide face persecution or violence.
These Christians around the world “are subjected to physical violence, subjugation, false detention, the expropriation of their property, enslavement, forced exile and even murder because of their religious beliefs”.
“Almost 5000 Christians were killed for their faith in 2025, which equates to an average of 13 per day,” he said.
Christians who are killed for their faith are witnesses to their belief, he said, but from the perspective of international law, “they are victims of outrageous human rights violations”.
“Their testimony must not distract from the fundamental responsibility of states which should have protected them,” Archbishop Balestrero said.
“A state should promote freedom of religion or belief, first and above all because it is a fundamental human right.”
Archbishop Balestrero shed light on other “more subtle and often silent forms of persecution”, which do not show up in statistics. For example, he mentioned gradual marginalisation or exclusion from social and professional life, discrimination or “discreet” restrictions and limitations that “narrow or in fact annul the rights legally recognised to the … Christian population”.
He cited statistics from the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe, which state that in 2024, there were 2211 cases of violent incidents affecting Christians in Europe.
“These include prosecutions for silent prayer near abortion facilities or for quoting a Bible verse on social issues,” he said.
He insisted that these “are not superficial acts” but “serious violations of the rights of Christians, perpetrated by the very authorities who are charged with the duty of respecting, protecting and promoting the human rights of all”.
“This contradiction must end,” he said.
FULL STORY
Holy See: Christians are most persecuted religious community in world (By Isabella H. de Carvalho, Vatican News)
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Christians ‘most persecuted religious community in the world,’ Vatican tells UN (By Junno Arocho Esteves, OSV News via Catholic Review)
