Religious persecution worldwide: A growing crisis for all humanity

By Francesca Merlo

Pope Francis has stressed on numerous occasions that to discriminate against individuals for religious reasons is an intolerable act that threatens the fraternal bonds shared by humanity.

On World Day of the Poor, his plea was no different. Amidst the devastating conflicts raging across the world, on Sunday 17 November, the Pope reiterated his prayers for all people who are persecuted for their religion and beliefs worldwide.

Today, millions of believers face discrimination, violence, and even death simply for practicing their faith.

Persecution worldwide

According to the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which monitors religious freedom, over 360 million Christians live in regions where they face high levels of persecution. This includes violence, imprisonment, displacement, and systemic discrimination. The organisation’s 2023 Religious Freedom Report highlights that two-thirds of the global population live in countries where religious freedom is either severely restricted or nonexistent.

Christian persecution in Nigeria and India

Amongst the countries in which Christians are persecuted for their faiths is Nigeria, where Islamist extremists continue to target Christian communities, often kidnapping and killing people who openly profess their faith. Often, churches are destroyed.

Similarly, in India, where the majority of the population is Hindu, Christians and other religious minorities are experiencing an increase in hostilities.

A Church after gunmen attacked it during Sunday Mass in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria, 2022

The Middle East

The Middle East has been home to violence for decades and the conflict and persecution in the area have decimated Christian populations. In Syria and Iraq, years of war and the threat of extremist groups like the so-called Islamic State have forced hundreds of thousands to flee. Open Doors International reports that only a fraction of these displaced communities have been able to return home and that even then, they face ongoing challenges in rebuilding their lives.

The role of the Church

Pope Francis, throughout the entirety of his pontificate thus far, has called for prayers and solidairty for persecuted Christians worldwide. Organisations such as ACN and Open Doors work tirelessly to provide financial aid, rebuild communities, and raise awareness of the struggles faced by believers. ACN emphasised in their most recent report on the state of persecuted Christians worldwide that “when one member of the body of Christ suffers, we all suffer”.

The Maronite Cathedral of Aleppo in Syria illuminated in red as part of the Red Week by Aid to the Church in Need against the persecution of Christians, 2021 (Photo courtesy of ACN)

But religious persecution does not stop at Christianity. It is a global issue that affects all faiths and creeds, and therefore all of humanity.

According to ACN’s Religious Freedom Report, as well as findings from othere organisations such as Human Rights Watch and the Pew Research Center, other religious minorities also endure severe oppression.

Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims

One of these minorities is the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, for whom Pope Francis often prays. Labeled as stateless by the Myanmar government, the Rohingyas have been victims of systemic discrimination for decades. The situation worsened in 2017 when Myanmar’s military launched a violent campaign against the Rohingya, reresulting in the deaths of thousands and the displacement of over 700,000 people who fled to neighbouring Bangladesh.

The campaign, widely regarded as ethnic cleansing by the United Nations and human rights organisations, has involved mass killings, sexual violence, and the destruction of entire villages. Despite international condemnation, the Rohingya remain denied basic rights, including citizenship, education, and the freedom to practice their faith. They continue to live in overcrowded refugee camps with limited access to food, healthcare, and security, facing constant threats of further violence​.

Rohingya refugees mark seventh anniversary of fleeing from Myanmar, in Cox's Bazar

Though the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is the most recent, blatant and brutal form of religious persecution, other religious minorities continue to suffer under the hands of extremist governments. In Afghanistan, though very few in number, Hindus and Sikhs have been decimated and flee the country due to threats from extremist groups. 

A Call to Conscience

The Church, under the guidance of Pope Francis - dubbed the “Pope of the peripheries” - continues to stand firm in its fight for religious freedom  across the globe, and Pope Francis so often extends his prayers and closeness to all people who suffer any form of injustice worldwide, no matter the faith and no matter the creed, as “we are all members of one human family”.