“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.” (Matthew 24:9 ESV)

The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) reports that there was a dramatic increase in the number of hate crimes against European Christians in 2023.

According to OIDAC, there were 2,444 reported attacks against Christians in 2023, It is also important to understand that this only includes the number of criminal cases reported in the 35 European countries, that were part of this study. OIDAC believes the actual number of incidents is much higher.

This was over triple the 748 reported cases in 2022, which in turn represented a 44% increase over 2021..

These numbers do not include unreported cases of harassment online or incidents like police arresting a Christian because he was praying in his mind near an abortion clinic.

The 2023 number included 232 personal attacks on Christians which ranged from serious harassment (threatening death or physical harm) to acts of violence.

Included in this number was a machete attack by a Muslim extremist in Algeciras, Spain. This resulted in the serious wounding of a priest at one Catholic church and the death of a worker who was preparing for mass at a second Catholic Church. In the second attack, the extremist demanded those attending the mass recant their faith.

Sixty-two percent of the anti-Christian violence in 2023 involved vandalism of churches of which nearly a third, 24%, included attacks on religious icons which many times resulted in the head being cut off.

Ten percent of the vandalism attacks were arson which resulted in some of the churches being completely destroyed.

OIDAC noted that three countries, France, the UK and Germany, clearly separated themselves from remaining European nations when it came to attacks. The three also reported significant increases over 2022.

But is not just happening in Europe, as we are seeing a rise in anti-Christian attacks around the world.

On November 9, 2024 a Roman Catholic priest in Singapore was stabbed in the face by an assailant as he was distributing communion during a Saturday mass, Fox News Reports.

That same day, a man shouting “I am Jesus Christ” entered a monastery in Gilet, Spain and ended up killing one monk and injuring two others.

Some anti-Christian sentiment is more subtle. Todd Starnes reports that some believe an art exhibit at East Tennessee State University linked Christianity to Nazism.

The art display featured several Nazi symbols which morphed into Christian crosses.

None of this is unexpected as believers are warned to expect increased persecution in the days leading up to Christ’s second coming.