In the midst of an increasingly intense debate about religious freedom and the increase in hate crimes in different regions of the world, the European Parliament took a significant step by officially recognizing the existence of “Christianophobia” and the systematic persecution suffered by millions of Christian believers. .
The decision came at the end of January, when the European Parliament adopted its annual resolution on human rights and democracy in the world, which explicitly mentions the term and highlights the magnitude of the persecution against Christianity at the global level.The document is strong in pointing out that “Christianity remains the most persecuted religion in the world, with more than 380 million people affected”. Despite this reality, the resolution itself notes an obvious institutional asymmetry within the European Union. “Although Christianity remains the most persecuted religion in the world, with more than 380 million people affected, there is no European coordinator responsible for combating Christianophobia, despite the fact that a coordinator has been appointed to combat Islamophobia,” states the text approved by the
Parliament.
This formal recognition comes in a worrying international context. According to various organizations that monitor religious freedom, one in seven Christians in the world suffers some type of persecution for their faith, a figure that reflects the seriousness of the phenomenon. The latest report by the Open Doors organization, dedicated to monitoring the situation of persecuted Christians in the world, reveals alarming data. During the last period analyzed alone, 3,632 churches and Christian properties were attacked, while 224,129 Christians were forced to leave their homes, hide or flee their
countries due to violent persecution.The situation is particularly dramatic in some regions. In Nigeria alone, thousands of Christians were killed last year, according to the report. In addition, among the ten countries with the highest Christian persecution are states governed by extreme left-wing communist regimes and territories affected by Islamic extremism. Open Doors warns that a record number of Christians are currently living under severe persecution, a trend that, far from diminishing, continues to worsen
.The European Parliament also highlighted the difficult situation experienced by Christian communities in the Middle East, a region considered the historic cradle of Christianity. “Christian communities in the Middle East, among the oldest in the world, continue to face serious persecution, discrimination, forced displacement and restrictions on their freedom of religion or belief,” the adopted resolution states
.At the conceptual level, the Parliament also advanced in the formal definition of the term “Christianophobia”, which is now considered a specific category of religious discrimination. The resolution defines it as “any act of violence, discrimination, harassment, vandalism or hate speech directed against Christian people, symbols or places of worship”. In addition, the text urges the European Commission to appoint a specific coordinator to combat this phenomenon, equivalent to existing positions to address anti-Semitism and
