Report: Christians Have Never Been As Persecuted as in 2025

Most of it has come from communists and Muslims, with the Hindus of India also contributing their share. May God have mercy on his people!

From Aleteia

By Hortense Leger

The World Watch List published by non-profit Open Doors reveals that in 2025, Christians experienced record levels of violence and oppression around the world.

The year 2025 stands out as setting a record for the persecution of Christians around the world.

For the first time since the creation in 1993 of the World Watch List, published annually by the Protestant non-profit Open Doors, 15 countries have reached the threshold of “extreme” persecution.

Of the 50 countries featured in the Index, published on January 14, 2026, more than 26 nations have seen their scores rise.

From October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025, Open Doors estimates that more than 4,849 Christians were killed for reasons related to their faith, 373 more than the previous year.

As for the number of churches targeted (attacked, looted, damaged, or burned), it rose to 3,632 in 2025.

The non-profit also counts nearly 4,800 Christians detained because of their faith, including 2,192 in India.

Today, more than 388 million Christians live in regions where persecution is severe, or one in seven Christians.

North Korea, Somalia, Yemen: Christian faith trampled upon

The top three countries in the ranking allow Christians no freedom whatsoever. In North Korea, which has ranked first in the index since 2022, if a Christian is discovered, they are killed or sent with their family to a forced labor camp as a political criminal. A 2020 law on “anti-reactionary” thought also bans the Bible and describes Christianity as “a serious threat.” North Korea's estimated 400,000 Christians have no right to gather.

Somalia ranks second in the index. Christians there know no respite. They live in complete secrecy. They are hunted down by the al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab, while the government does not recognize their existence and prohibits the sharing of the Christian faith. 

Yemen completes this sad trio. Ravaged by a devastating civil war since 2014, the country has recently resurfaced in the news due to attacks by the Houthis against Israel, particularly during the events of October and November 2023. Western retaliatory strikes are portrayed by the Houthis as “Christian aggression,” which reinforces the radicalization of youth and hostility toward Christians.

Sub-Saharan Africa, the epicenter of violence

Sub-Saharan Africa is now the epicenter of anti-Christian violence. Since the publication of the 2015 Index, this region has held the sad record for the highest number of Christians murdered because of their faith. Nigeria, Sudan, and Mali occupy the top spots in this tragic ranking.

Nigeria, where 70% of Christian deaths for the faith take place

Nigeria, which ranks seventh in the study, recorded 3,490 Christians killed in 2025, 390 more than in 2024. Thus, of every 10 Christians killed for their faith worldwide, seven are killed in Nigeria. These numbers reflect the large population of Christian in Nigeria and its population in general.

Although the Nigerian Constitution is secular, 12 northern states have adopted Sharia law, which discriminates against Christians. The country is facing a multifaceted crisis involving terrorism, inter-ethnic conflict, and religious extremism.

Most of the violence is committed by radicalized Fulani militias in the context of an ethnic-religious conflict. They attack Muslim Hausa and Christians of all ethnicities. Christians are also attacked by the Islamist terrorist groups Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State in West Africa).

The attacks are particularly violent: villages and churches are burned and looted, pastors are kidnapped, and women and children are victims of kidnapping and rape.

On June 13 and 14, 2025, Fulani extremists attacked Christian villages in Benue State, massacring 258 people in four hours. Earlier, On April 13, 2025, 43 people from the Christian community in Bassa were burned alive by Fulani extremists on Palm Sunday.

For its part, the state has failed to take effective action against this violence. From 2011 to 2025, more than 44,000 people were killed for their Christian faith in the country.

More civil war and terrorist violence

This phenomenon is not limited to Nigeria. In Sudan, the civil war between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has been causing extreme violence against Christians since 2023. On both sides, 2.2 million Christians are being persecuted, hundreds of churches have been damaged, and many Christian leaders have been detained.

In Mali, large swathes of the country are controlled by terrorist groups who are gradually tightening their grip on the capital, Bamako. These lawless areas are subject to strict Sharia law, and Christians are targeted for execution and kidnapping, forcing some to flee.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, and Mozambique — countries with Christian majorities — haven’t been spared either. In some regions, groups affiliated with ISIS or Al-Qaeda are directly attacking Christians in areas where state authority is weak.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the ADF, an armed group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, is stepping up its attacks on Christians, propelling the country into the 2025 index. Massacres, kidnappings, and the destruction of churches are a daily occurrence for groups that are often isolated and forgotten by the international community.

The great Syrian disillusionment

In the Middle East, Syria has risen from 18th to 6th place in the index in one year. This increase in persecution of Christians is directly linked to the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in 2024.

The Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham now controls most of Syria. In a context of communal violence and without any real rule of law, Christians are being killed and churches attacked. The suicide bombing of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Elias in Damascus on June 22, 2025, by an ISIS terrorist left 22 people dead and more than 60 wounded. This event caused severe trauma among Christians, who are now less likely to attend church.

Some have received death threats, and graffiti inciting the massacre of Christians has been spray-painted on churches. The constitutional declaration of March 2025 also makes Islamic jurisprudence the primary source of legislation, creating a climate of insecurity among the approximately 300,000 Christians still living in Syria.

Insidious persecution

But in addition to this “hammering persecution,” which combines physical violence and daily attacks, there is also the emergence of more insidious forms of violence. In India, China, and Algeria, religious freedoms are disappearing in favor of stifling state control. And despite some glimmers of hope, progress remains meager.

A decrease in violence against Christians in Bangladesh, greater recognition of the vulnerability of Christian minorities in Latin America, legal victories for religious communities in Malaysia: these advances remain modest in light of the scale of the challenges.