Alarming new data has revealed that arson attacks against Christian churches have doubled across Europe, marking an alarming surge in anti-religious hate crimes.
The spike was revealed in a new 2025 report from the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians (OIDAC) Europe.
The report exposes a stark rise in violent attacks against Christian communities across the continent, including a doubling of arson attacks in just one year.
The NGO’s findings show that 94 arson attacks on churches and Christian buildings were recorded in 2024, compared to 46 the previous year.
Germany topped the list with 33 documented cases.
According to the report, Europe saw 2,211 anti-Christian hate crimes in 2024, including 274 attacks on individuals.
In a statement, OIDAC Europe director Anja Tang said:
“Behind these figures are specific cases of church vandalism, arson, and physical violence that have real consequences for the lives of local communities.”
France (770), the United Kingdom (502), Germany (337), and Austria (116) saw the highest number of incidents, ranging from vandalism to murder.
While the total number of anti-Christian crimes slightly declined from 2023, the severity of the attacks worsened.
OIDAC highlighted the murder of a 76-year-old monk in a Spanish monastery and a shooting during Sunday Mass at a Catholic church in Istanbul that was described as “an ISIS-related attack.”
The report also took aim at policies in the United Kingdom, particularly its “buffer zone laws” around abortion facilities that criminalize even silent prayer.
The case of British army veteran Adam Smith-Connor is cited as a prime example of escalating state pressure on Christian expression.
Smith-Connor was convicted under the socialist UK government’s anti-free speech laws for silently praying near an abortion clinic.
Beyond physical attacks, OIDAC warns that aggressive secularization is creating new legal vulnerabilities for Christians who express traditional beliefs on marriage and gender.
“Traditional Christian beliefs – such as the view that God created human beings as male and female for one another – may be labelled as ‘discriminatory,’ even where no act of discrimination has occurred,” the report states.
It continues by noting that expressing such beliefs can now result in “interrogation, suspension, or dismissal.”
Surveys underscore the depth of the problem: half of Catholic priests in Poland reported experiencing aggression in the past year, and nearly 50 percent of young people in Germany believe hostility to Christians is widespread.
“When half of the priests in a predominantly Catholic country experience abuse, hostile attitudes toward Christians can no longer be dismissed as a marginal issue,” Tang warned.
OIDAC Europe is calling for urgent action at both the national and EU levels.
The organization is urging the appointment of an EU coordinator on anti-Christian hate crimes.
Currently, there are already existing positions focused on anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred.
However, there are no EU officials focused on anti-Christian hate attacks.
The group also urged member states to adopt new OSCE guidelines and to begin properly recording anti-Christian incidents, which remain significantly underreported across Europe.
The picture painted in the report is unmistakable as anti-Christian hostility is rising, becoming more violent, and increasingly embedded in the cultural and legal fabric of European societies.
It is a disturbing trend that OIDAC warns cannot be ignored any longer.
Our comment section is restricted to members of the Slay News community only.
To join, create a free account HERE.
If you are already a member, log in HERE.