A report was released Thursday from the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) that revealed that 2022 had seen a sharp increase in anti-Christian hate crimes, rising 44 percent from the previous year.
These attacks include physical violence, desecration, theft and arson attacks on churches.
The Annual Report 2022/23 also highlighted that certain legal impositions in European countries target Christians specifically, who have many times been prosecuted for “hate speech” for simply sharing Christian values in public. This, Breitbart notes, infringes upon the religious freedoms of Christians.
“Buffer zones” around abortion clinics have led to the criminalization of praying on the public streets outside, for example.
The report also revealed that legislation protecting parents’ rights to raise and educate their children in accordance with Christian values had been eliminated, specifically when dealing with gender dysphoria and LGBTQ+ issues.
The OIDC Europe documented 748 anti-Christian hate crimes total in 30 different European countries, increasing from 519 in 2021. Arson attacks specifically almost doubled, rising from 60 to 105.
There were 38 crimes of physical assault documented in 2022 including the violent murders of three Christians.
These numbers, OIDAC noted, are most likely higher due to the amount of hate crime incidents that go unreported.
It also stated that attacks are more likely “when the visibility of Christians is higher, such as during processions, public celebrations, and events with public decorations and symbols.” Many have taken place around Easter and Christmas and are enacted by members of radical religious beliefs that villainize Christians.
Many other attacks have been from far-left extremists such as Antifa.
Overall, anti-Christian hate crimes, the OIDAC reported, have been increasing steadily over the last 10 years. The European countries with the highest number of these incidents in 2022 were Germany, Italy and France.
