A new study released Monday by the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) finds that violent attacks, threats, and arson against Christians and churches rose sharply in 2024.
The report—officially launched Tuesday by the Vienna-based watchdog—shows that while overall anti-Christian incidents declined to 2,211 in 2024, the severity of the cases escalated significantly, with more assaults and destructive attacks targeting Christian individuals and properties.
According to the data, physical violence against Christians increased from 232 incidents in 2023 to 274 in 2024, while arson attacks on churches and Christian sites surged to 94—nearly double the previous year’s total.
OIDAC Europe identified France, the U.K., Germany, Spain, and Austria as the countries with the highest overall number of anti-Christian incidents.
Among the most disturbing attacks highlighted in the report was the November 2024 killing of a 76-year-old Catholic friar in Spain. He was murdered by a man who forced his way into the Friary of Santo Espiritu del Monte while shouting, “I am Jesus Christ!” The assailant, a 26-year-old Moroccan national, injured seven others while moving through the monastery and claiming he acted “in the name of God,” according to The Mirror.
Another incident involved an ISIS-linked shooting at the Church of Santa Maria in Istanbul, Turkey, during Sunday Mass in January 2024. Gunmen opened fire inside the sanctuary, fatally shooting a 52-year-old man who was reportedly preparing to convert and be baptized, the BBC reported.
The report also detailed the near-total destruction of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Omer, France, after an arson attack in September 2024. The 1859 neo-Gothic structure—restored just six years earlier—burned only weeks after another fire damaged Rouen’s historic cathedral, raising memories of the 2019 Notre-Dame blaze.
In its review of documented cases, OIDAC Europe noted that it independently confirmed 516 hate crimes against Christians. When vandalism, theft, and burglary at Christian sites were included, the total number of verified incidents rose to 1,503.
Germany accounted for roughly one-third of all arson-related attacks. The scale of the destruction prompted the country’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference to warn in October that “all taboos have been broken,” citing widespread sacrilege that included desecrated confessionals and beheaded statues of Jesus Christ.
The report found that radical Islamist ideology was the most frequently identified motive in cases where the intent could be determined, followed by radical left-wing ideology and other political motivations. A total of 15 incidents featured explicit satanic symbols or references.
OIDAC Europe contextualized its findings within broader 2024 hate crime statistics from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which recorded more than 3,000 antisemitic incidents, about 1,000 anti-Christian attacks, and approximately 950 anti-Muslim incidents across Europe.
Beyond physical attacks, the watchdog highlighted rising examples of legal pressure against Christians, including the high-profile case of Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen. Räsänen has repeatedly faced court proceedings over a six-year-old Bible verse tweet criticizing her church’s support for LGBT pride month.
OIDAC Europe called on the European Union to adopt stronger measures to address growing anti-Christian hostility, including appointing a coordinator to combat anti-Christian hatred, similar to existing coordinators for antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred.
