Religious freedom ‘increasingly disappearing’ warns Aid to Church in Need
Aid to the Church in Need published their latest report into religious persecution, highlighting the plight of millions who suffer for their faith.
(PerMariam) — Aid to the Church in Need have documented widespread religious persecution across the globe, highlighting authoritarianism and Jihadism as two of the key issues affecting hundreds of millions today.
Releasing its annual Religious Freedom in the World Report just by the Vatican on Tuesday, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) outlined the plight of millions of Christians suffering for their faith.
Some 220 million “live in countries where they are directly exposed to persecution,” while some 413 million live in nations where they have their religious freedom violated. A total of over 5 billion people live in areas without full religious freedom, the report says.
Assessing 196 countries, ACN has identified 24 as centers of “persecution,” some 38 as centers of religious discrimination, and a wider 62 in which religious freedoms are violated.
Covering the period from January 2023 through December 2024, ACN’s report reveals that of the nations observed, only two countries – Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan – have seen improvements in the persecution and religious freedom violations.
In 18 out of the 24 countries listed as actively persecuting Christians, the conditions have deteriorated since the last reporting period. Some of these nations come as no surprise for those who have followed ACN’s work: “In countries such as China, Eritrea, Iran and Nicaragua, the government represses religion through pervasive surveillance, restrictive legislation, and the repression of dissenting beliefs.”
“Religious extremism continues to drive violence and coercion, particularly in Africa,” notes ACN International’s executive president Regina Lynch. While this is the case on the African continent, in South America a trend emerges via “the politicisation of religion, pressure on Churches perceived as critical of government actions, and constraints on faith-based organisations engaged in education, humanitarian work or social advocacy.”
But the forms of persecution differ. Some of the 24 persecuting nations, like Nigeria, Sudan, Pakistan, combine “authoritarian governance and religious extremism.” Other more powerful nations – think China, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea – employ “authoritarian state control” as their primary method.
Another group of seven nations in Africa utilize “religious extremism” chiefly, whilst the last two on the list – India and Myanmar – feature a mixture of “authoritarianism and ethno-religious nationalism.”
Rise of Islamic threat
With much of the Western political sphere tending to shy away from speaking about the plight of persecution Christian in Muslim nations, ACN’s report did not follow suit. “Jihadist movements have expanded their reach and diversified their strategies, increasingly adapting to local contexts and grievances,” the document notes.
This activity is particularly pronounced in the Middle East, which is described as a “crucial theatre for jihadism,” whilst Africa has “emerged as the arena of the deadliest jihadist activity.”
“Jihadism has not significantly diminished in recent years; rather, it has adapted,” lamented ACN. “The threat persists at a global level through a multifaceted network of groups and lone militants. One of the most troubling trends has been the sustained, and in some cases escalating, targeting of Christian communities; these attacks are not isolated episodes but rather manifest the deep-rooted sectarian logic that lies at the heart of contemporary jihadism.”
ACN’s concern for Africa is not isolated. Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe of the Diocese of Makurdi said earlier this year that “genocide” is being committed in the nation. The 2025 Global Christian Relief (GCR) Red List report named Nigeria as the most dangerous region for Christians in the world. Some 8,000 Christians were killed in 2023 by Islamic militants, and over 50,000 Christians have been killed since 2009.
The rise of Islamic persecution against Christianity internationally is well documented by other religious freedom advocates. International Christian Concern has previously stated that “the Taliban are working to completely erase Christianity or any religious minority from the country, even stating that there are no Christians in Afghanistan, an obviously false claim.”
Authoritarian control
While bloody persecution at the hands of Islamic militia is more public, a more hidden form of religious persecution is not just highly prevalent, but identified by the Pontifical Foundation ACN as “the greatest threat to religious freedom.”
Authoritarian rule “is among the main drivers of persecution in 19 countries and underpins patterns of discrimination in 33 others,” the report reads.
One such case study exemplifying this is China, where increasingly strict laws have made “a normal religious life for children and young people in China almost impossible.”
The process of “Sinicization” has long been China’s tool to enforce state-control over the practice of religion, and ACN highlights how the concept is being utilized to crush non-approved faith especially amongst the young. “All this has led to a de facto ban on all religious practice and education for anyone under 18 years of age in China, thus depriving religious communities of their youth development efforts and posing an existential threat to their future.”
Similarly in countries such as Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua there has been an intensifying campaign against religious leaders in order to silence the most effective voices. Cuba’s style of authoritarian control has emigrated to Venezuela and Nicaragua, although in the latter nation this has escalated to more public persecution of the Catholic Church, as most famously known by the case of Bishop Rolando Alvarez.
ACN’s 2025 report was released at the Augustinianum Institute, just yards from the Vatican. Marked by a keynote address from Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin the launch day thus took on an extra level of significance.
However, Parolin courted controversy in his remarks by commenting that violence against Christians in Nigeria is “not a religious conflict, but rather more a social one, for example, disputes between herders and farmers.”
Parolin’s – already much criticized – words aside, ACN’s report points to a continued and growing threat of the loss of religious freedom in many countries around the world.
“In a world marked by growing instability—from the war in Ukraine to conflict in the Holy Land, and the global rise of authoritarianism—religious freedom is under mounting threat,” ACN wrote.
“These infringements signal a broader assault on the rights enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. Today, this fundamental right is not merely under pressure, it is increasingly disappearing.”