(Photo: Aid to the Church in Need)
Across continents, the plight of Christians facing persecution is escalating, with millions being uprooted due to conflict and extremist violence, reports Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). This troubling trend threatens the survival of ancient Christian communities.
The Catholic charity unveiled its recent Persecuted and Forgotten? report, highlighting deteriorating conditions for Christians in 10 out of the 18 countries studied, such as China, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Notably, none of these nations showed signs of improvement.
Focusing on the period from August 2024 to June 2026, the report scrutinizes nations where the situation for Christians is deemed particularly alarming by ACN.
Exodus in Conflict Zones
The report notes, “Millions of Christians are part of a mass exodus of those displaced in conflict zones, some of it religiously motivated.” It further elaborates on how vast regions in Africa and Asia have become perilous.
Sub-Saharan Africa is notably affected, with ACN expressing concerns that ongoing attacks and displacements may fundamentally alter the region’s religious landscape.
In Nigeria, over a million Christians are among the 3.5 million internally displaced individuals. The report details assaults by bandits, ethnic groups, and jihadists, predominantly in the north and Middle Belt.
A survivor, Solomon Ako, recounted to ACN his ordeal of being kidnapped from his village near Zaria in northern Nigeria. He shared, “They immediately asked us to convert and, when we refused, they started beating us. They flogged us with whips. Our legs were put in chains. Shackles [were] placed round our ankles.”
Ako and other hostages reportedly endured hours submerged up to their necks in cold water.
Islamist Control and Repression
In Burkina Faso, Islamist militants are said to control over 40% of the territory, with Christians being coerced into following Islamist customs or facing execution. Neighboring Mali and Mozambique have also witnessed killings, abductions, and church destructions.
According to the 2026 Global Terrorism Index, six of the top 10 countries most impacted by terrorism are in Africa.
The report raises alarm about the survival of Christianity in parts of the Middle East, its historical heartland.
Syria’s Christian population has reportedly dwindled by more than 80% since 2011, with church leaders fearing existential threats. A suicide bombing at Mar Elias Church in Damascus resulted in 23 deaths and 65 injuries.
Authoritarian Crackdowns
ACN’s report highlights the increasing repression by authoritarian regimes. In China, underground churches face heightened scrutiny, including detentions, closures, and stringent controls on religious teachings and online content. Iran has seen a doubling of Christian arrests over a year.
Nicaragua’s government has intensified its crackdown, arresting clergy, exiling church leaders, and seizing church properties.
Religious nationalism is another pressing issue. India witnessed over 700 anti-Christian incidents in 2025, with state anti-conversion laws fueling further attacks.
In Pakistan, the report sheds light on the abduction, forced conversion, and marriage of Christian girls, alongside ongoing threats related to blasphemy allegations.
“Rarely is religious animosity the sole driver of acts of hatred towards Christians,” the report states, emphasizing how multiple factors, including ethnicity, resource access, poverty, and politics, compound the issue.
It further notes, “The lack of religious literacy in the West is such that anti-Christian animus is frequently downplayed in favour of other factors. Hence a skewed understanding of the human rights context often exacerbates an already critical situation for persecuted Christians.”
John Pontifex, ACN UK’s head of press and public affairs, remarked on the findings as indicative of a persistent failure to address persecution. “Twenty years after we first launched Persecuted and Forgotten? we can say that the oppression of Christians remains a human rights catastrophe the world refuses to acknowledge,” he stated. “Persecution has become a huge, yet often hidden, factor driving entire communities from their homes, changing the religious demography of entire regions, especially in Africa. What will it take for the world to act?”
The report’s foreword, penned by Peter Bhatti, whose brother Shahbaz, a Christian minister for minorities affairs in Pakistan, was assassinated in 2011, poses a poignant question: “What are we willing to do for our persecuted brothers and sisters?”
This article was originally written by www.christiantoday.com
