Anti-Christian hate crimes across Europe are being downplayed or ignored – report

Anti-Christian hate crimes across Europe are being downplayed or ignored, in accordance with a latest report. 

The 125-page document has been published by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). Similar reports have already been published coping with anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes.

The report on anti-Christian hate crimes was officially launched earlier this month on the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference. It notes that Christians in Europe have been subject to a wide range of incidents, starting from graffiti and vandalism, to violent attacks and murder.

Quite a lot of congregations have had to extend security in response to the increased threat level.

One contributing factor to anti-Christian hate crimes is tensions with other religions.

“Religion-related or religion-inspired violence may additionally stem from the perception of Christianity as a rival, inferior or adversarial faith — often framed inside violent ‘extremist’ narratives, historical grievances and geopolitical tensions,” the report said.

“For example, some types of violent ‘extremist’ rhetoric portray Christians as ‘infidels’ and ‘enemies of Islam’ who have to be subdued.”

Converts from Islam to Christianity were found to be specifically danger. The report cited a 2023 case in Britain during which a convert was stabbed by his housemate who was shouting “Allahu Akbar”.

The pair had initially got on well, but upon learning of the conversion the attacker viewed the victim as, in accordance with the prosecutor within the case, “any person who deserved to die”.

Nonetheless, the report says that female Christian converts from Islam are “especially susceptible to being punished by their families once their latest faith is discovered, including through physical violence and threats”.

It was also noted that anti-Christian hate crimes are sometimes “downplayed, under-reported or politically ignored”.

The report says that “anti-Christian hate crimes don’t happen in a vacuum” and that “everybody has a job to play in fostering a climate of mutual respect and understanding”. 

Elsewhere, it states that in some cases “political discourse and narratives have helped to perpetuate anti-Christian bias and stereotypes in the general public sphere”.

The report calls for greater awareness of the character of anti-Christian viewpoints in addition to for more research into the difficulty and the introduction of policies and laws to guard Christians. Additional security measures during Christian festivals like Christmas also needs to be considered.

Recommendations include work at the federal government level to advertise “a transparent and accurate understanding of the precise characteristics of up to date anti-Christian bias, in addition to of common discriminatory narratives that drive intolerance against Christians.”

Members of the media are called upon to “convey unbiased and accurate information” and to make sure that reporting doesn’t “perpetuate or reinforce anti-Christian bias”.