Global Christian persecution worsened in 2025, claiming 4,849 lives, with Nigeria at the epicenter, according to the 2026 World Watch List.
Newsroom (14/01/2026 Gaudium Press ) The persecution of Christians reached alarming new levels in 2025, with 4,849 believers killed for their faith between October 2024 and September 2025, according to the 2026 World Watch List published by the international NGO Open Doors. The figure represents an increase of 373 deaths over the previous year, drawing renewed attention to the growing dangers faced by Christian communities worldwide.
Nigeria remains the epicenter of these killings, accounting for 3,490 of the total—up from 3,100 the previous year. The report attributes the violence to a volatile mix of Islamist militancy, ethno-religious strife, organized crime, and weak governance. In one of the most brutal incidents, an attack on the Christian farming community of Yelwata, in Benue State, left 258 people dead in June 2025, the majority of them women and children.
Sub-Saharan Africa: The Most Violent Frontline
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to bear the brunt of anti-Christian violence, with Sudan, Nigeria, and Mali scoring the highest levels of hostility. The region’s chronic instability and the absence of effective governance have turned vast rural areas into ungoverned spaces where extremist groups operate with impunity. According to the report, this lethal combination has made the region the world’s most dangerous place to be a Christian.
Over the 33 years that Open Doors has compiled its annual World Watch List, persecution has steadily increased. The 2026 edition finds that more than 388 million Christians—one in every seven globally—now live under high levels of discrimination. Of these, 315 million face “very high or extreme” persecution in the 50 countries included in the index.
Beyond Physical Violence: Restriction and Isolation
Open Doors emphasizes that persecution extends beyond physical attacks. It increasingly manifests in government restrictions, surveillance, censorship, and the forced closure of churches. Algeria provides a striking example: all Protestant churches in the country remain closed, leaving more than 75% of believers cut off from their congregations. This form of isolation, the organization warns, erodes community identity and weakens faith practices.
The report also highlights a surge in gender-based violence. Instances of sexual assault and forced marriage targeting Christian women and girls rose by 32% compared with the previous year. Open Doors cautions that these figures may underrepresent the scale of abuse due to underreporting, cultural stigma, and fear of reprisal.
A Global Trend of Declining Religious Freedom
Of the 50 countries monitored by the report, 34 registered an increase in persecution. In the Middle East, Syria stands out for its sharp rise in violence against Christians, coinciding with the political aftermath of the Assad regime’s collapse. The power vacuum left behind has been exploited by armed factions such as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which now control much of northwestern Syria. During the reporting period, Open Doors documented desecrations of churches and cemeteries, forced closures of Christian schools, and at least 27 murders—an alarming contrast to the previous year, when no such killings were recorded.
The organization warns that growing lawlessness, corruption, and the erosion of governance have become common denominators across the world’s most affected nations. Extremist groups and armed militias capitalize on these weaknesses, turning vulnerable minorities into targets for ideological, economic, or political gain. Countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Somalia, Niger, and Mozambique all demonstrate variations of this pattern.
As the world enters 2026, Open Doors’ findings underline a sobering reality: despite global awareness campaigns and diplomatic engagement, the persecution of Christians continues to escalate, revealing the fragility of religious freedom in an increasingly polarized world.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from ACI Prensa
Related Images:
