World Watch Report: Alarming Global Rise in Violent Acts Against Christians
Worldwide, 365 million Christians face persecution or discrimination for their faith in Christ.
Each year, Open Doors U.S. unveils its annual World Watch List detailing the worst persecutors. This year's report focuses on alarming persecution trends in Africa and one impoverished nation not far from the United States.
The usual countries of concern top this year's World Watch List: North Korea is the top persecutor of Christians, followed by Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, and Yemen – home of the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, the terrorist group attacking ships transiting the Red Sea.
Open Doors U.S. CEO Ryan Brown said the greatest concern is the rising tide of violence worldwide against followers of Christ, especially by Islamic and autocratic regimes in sub-Saharan Africa.
"Christians can become easy targets for those that are looking to create instability within those environments," Brown explained. "They can do so with impunity, that they've received no consequence for those actions. Because again, Christians are not often protected or recognized by the governments in those areas."
The report documents that 4,998 Christians died for their faith in 2023, but many deaths might go unreported. That's compared to 5,621 the previous year.
Christians stand inside a church building torched by an angry Muslim mob in Jaranwala near Faisalabad, Pakistan, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Although the overall global death numbers are down, Open Doors found that more than 82% of the Christians killed for faith reasons were in Nigeria.
"Christians do suffer severely because of their faith in Nigeria. The number of people that have been killed because of their faith, that number surpasses all other countries in the globe combined," Brown insisted. "So truly it's an area where there's a lot of instability and a lot of need to be lifting up our brothers and sisters in prayer."
READ 'Slow-Motion Jihad': Biden Admin Under Fire Amid Deadly Horror Targeting Christians in Nigeria
MORE A Shocking Rise in Church Attacks: The Most Horrific Places in the World for Christian Persecution
And most surprising in this year's report? Nicaragua. The country is led by the communist Sandinistas and Daniel Ortega. It jumped twenty places from number 50 in 2023 to number 30 on the 2024 list.
"It is one that continues to see alarming trends where the government really sees the Christian population as threats to the government, as threats to take control – and therefore enact these persecutions against believers in those areas," said Brown.
However, on January 14, the Nicaraguan government announced the release of two Catholic bishops and 15 priests from prison. Among them was Bishop Rolando Alvarez, who was imprisoned for more than a year.
Global Christian Relief CEO David Curry said it is important for the world to learn about Christian persecution through the documentation and indexing of incidents.
"People often turn aside from the fact that Christians are even persecuted at all because, in our Western mindset, they just don't understand the scope of the problem," he explained.
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Curry's organization has created a new global database recording violent acts of religious persecution.
"It's time that we see it as a global problem, that extremists are targeting Jews and Christians and others for their faith," he insisted.
As for Brown? He hopes the 2024 World Watch List will motivate people to pray.
"So many of our brothers and sisters are not necessarily seeking to flee that persecution, not looking to escape that persecution, but simply seeking to be the hands and feet of Christ within that context of persecution, looking for prayer, for encouragement that their testimony, their faith will not falter or fail in the face of such mounting odds."
About The Author
Mr. Lane served as International News Director and Senior International Correspondent for CBN News. He traveled to more than 120 countries—many of them restricted nations or areas hostile to Christianity and other minority faiths where he has interviewed persecution victims and provided video reports and analysis for CBN News. Also, he provided written stories and served as a consultant for the Voice of the Martyrs.
Gary joined The Christian Broadcasting Network in 1984 as the first full-time Middle East Correspondent for CBN News. Based in Jerusalem, Gary produced reports from Beirut on the Lebanese civil war. He was reassigned to Washington, D.C., at the start of President Reagan’s second term and served as National Security Correspondent from the U.S. State Department, Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and the White House.
Gary left CBN briefly in 1988 to work as Senior Press Secretary for Pat Robertson’s presidential campaign. Afterward, he returned to Washington and served as Washington Bureau Chief for CBN News from 1989-1992.
Gary transferred to CBN headquarters in Virginia Beach in 1996, where he began more extensive international traveling and reporting as a Senior Correspondent.
In addition to his extensive reporting on Christian persecution, Gary is also known for his reporting on the civil war in Sudan. He made 20 trips to the country since 1993 and also testified before Congress about the plight of Burmese refugees.
Gary produced numerous documentaries, including Americans Abandoned for the American Defense Institute, which afforded him the opportunity to become the first American journalist granted access to the Vietnamese Defense and Cultural Film archives. The investigative film about American POWs featured Vietnam War footage never seen before by Americans.
Gary also produced several persecution documentaries, including one about Christians in Egypt for Freedom House—Their Blood Cries Out—and another about attacks in Indonesia for The Voice of the Martyrs—Island Jihad. He also worked as a production consultant and videographer for the VOM video specials Underground Reality Vietnam and Underground Reality Colombia.
Over the years, Gary covered wars in Lebanon, Israel, Nicaragua, Angola, Burma, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Colombia, Libya, and Syria. He won several awards, including one from the National Gulf War Resource Center for his groundbreaking investigative reporting of Gulf War Illness, an affliction affecting veterans of Operation Desert Storm. The Australian Evangelical Press Association gave him an award for his reporting of a church massacre that occurred in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, shortly after 9-11.
Gary left CBN in 2000 to join the Voice of The Martyrs as their News Director, where he directed the mission’s multimedia efforts. Those included the website, monthly newsletter, video productions, publications, press releases, and media interviews.
Gary rejoined CBN in late 2003 as International News Director/Senior Correspondent. He served as executive producer of three weekly international news programs: Christian World News (CWN); Mundo Cristiano, a Spanish version of CWN produced in Costa Rica; and an Arabic language version of CWN, CWN Arabic, which was broadcast throughout North Africa and the Middle East. He also hosted and produced the weekly CBN News Channel program, The Global Lane.
Prior to CBN, Gary worked for various local television stations in Michigan, including one owned by Time Inc. and another by Knight-Ridder. Before that, he worked at local radio stations in Flint and Detroit.
Gary is a 1979 honors graduate of The University of Michigan, Flint, where he served as political editor of The University News, studied pre-law, and received an A.B. in political science and history.
