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Anti-Christian hate crimes in Europe rose during the month of January, according to the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC).
The group reports 39 recorded anti-Christian hate crimes, in most cases targeting places of worship and symbols, rather than individuals.
There were 18 incidents of vandalism, 10 arson attacks, five cases of desecration, and four thefts targeting religious symbols.
Three cases involved violence against Christians, including an assault on a street preacher in the Netherlands.
Ten of the incidents took place in Italy, eight in Germany and seven in France. Seven other countries saw at least one incident.
OIDAC noted that January saw an unusually high number of arson related attacks, most of which were in Germany and Italy.
Outside of the EU, there were two recorded incidents in the UK and one in Ukraine. One of the incidents in the UK involved the police banning a planned “Walk With Jesus” in Whitechapel due to the risk of serious disorder stemming from a hostile reaction from the largely Muslim populace of the area.
Recently the European Parliament passed a resolution reaffirming its opposition to all forms of prejudice and discrimination, including anti-Christian persecution, and recognising its failure to appoint a coordinator to deal with Christianophobia when it has a fully functioning anti-Islamophobia coordinator. The resolution was welcomed by OIDAC.
The group said that “the [European] Parliament not only acknowledges the global scale of anti-Christian persecution but also highlights an institutional asymmetry within the EU’s existing anti-discrimination architecture”.
Despite describing the 39 recorded incidents as a “rise”, it is entirely possible that the real number of anti-Christian hate crimes is much higher as a report published last year suggested that anti-Christian hate crimes are often “downplayed, under-reported or politically overlooked”.
Previously published data by OIDAC suggested that in 2024 there were over 2,200 anti-Christian hate crimes in Europe, pointing to a monthly average of over 180.
OIDAC director Anja Tang-Hoffman said the latest figures “point to the need for sustained monitoring, effective preventive measures, and proportionate law enforcement responses”.
“Ensuring the protection of places of worship and the free and safe exercise of religion remains a core obligation of states under European human rights standards and an essential component of social cohesion and pluralism,” she said.
