By our Special Religious Correspondent
Washington, Feb 06 (IVC) The year 2023 was the worst year for the Christian faith as 4998 Christians were killed for the faith globally as they faced record level of violent attacks, according to a report released here recently by the International Christian persecution watchdog group Open Door.
On an average 13 Christians were killed for their faith per day in 2023, in the World Watch List 2024 yearly reporting period that ended on Sept 30, 2023. Open Doors, an organization that monitors persecution and supports Church in over 60 countries released its World Watch List 2024 on January 31 , documenting trends and ranking the 50 worst countries in the world when it comes to Christian persecution.
At least 14,766 churches and Christian properties were attacked worldwide du that time, with Open Doors reporting a seven-fold increase in attacks on churches and Christian-run schools, hospitals and cemeteries. “Attacks on churches and Christian properties sky-rocketed in 2023,as more Christians than ever recorded faced violent attacks”, the report stated.
Open Doors warns that more than 365 million (one in seven) Christians face high levels of prosecution for their faith. North Korea was again ranked Number One as the country where Christians face the greatest difficulty in practicing their faith , Open Doors says that becoming Christians in North Korea is “effectively a death sentence” because they “will be deported to labor camps as political criminals or they are killed on the spot”.
“Meeting for worship is almost impossible and must be done in utmost secrecy, and at grave risk”, Open Doors states in a North Korea factsheet. “In May 2023, five members of a family were arrested as they gathered for prayer and bible study. Christian literature was also confiscated. The group had reportedly been meeting on a weekly basis, and their arrest followed a tip-off by an informant. Open Doors also highlighted the violence against Christians in Sub-Saharan countries, where 26 countries in this region ranked at or above “High” levels of persecution. Fifteen of the 26 Sub-Saharan countries with scores at or above “High” were ranked “Extremely High” in the violence subcategory.
“In 18 of the 26 Sub-Saharan countries with at least ‘High’ overall levels of persecution, at least 4606 Christians were killed because of their faith during the 12-month month reporting period for the 2024 list, which concluded 30 September 2023. There were no recorded killings in the remaining eight of those 26 countries,” the report said. Nigeria, which is ranked Number Three, accounted for nine out of 10 religiously motivated killings in the Sub-Saharan countries on the World Watch List .Open Doors stated that the number of killings in these areas is likely to be higher as conflicts are ongoing, and that makes it challenging to obtain fully reliable data
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