COVID-19 Pandemic Increasing Persecution of Christians, Report Claims

Crux ^ | 1/14/20 | Ines San Martin

[marshmallow]

ROSARIO, Argentina — Anti-Christian persecution is on the rise, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report.

Every day, more than 340 million Christians suffer discrimination, inequality or active persecution in at least fifty countries in the world, according to a report released Wednesday by Open Doors, a Christian human rights organization.

In 2018-2019, 2,983 cases of Christians being killed for their faith were recorded by the international watchdog group, while there were at least 4,781 between Oct. 2019 and Sept. 2020. Over 90 percent of these killings were in Africa, where a terrorist group blamed Christians for the coronavirus pandemic.

“The numbers are astonishing,” Open Doors said in a statement introducing the 2021 World Watch List. “But behind each number and statistic, there is a human story.”

Each year, the World Watch List provides an unparalleled glimpse into the 50 places around the world where Christians face the worst persecution.

The latest report found that the coronavirus pandemic “has been a catalyst for the repression of Christian minorities, who, in countries such as Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, as well as Yemen and Sudan, were sometimes denied aid.”

This year, “for the first time in history”, the 50 countries that make up the list have reached “very high” levels of persecution. A dozen of them, including North Korea, China, Syria, Iraq, India, Nigeria, Yemen or Iran, show “extreme levels of persecution.”

[Verginius Rufus]

I think the number was much higher than that just in Nigeria.

Rosario was Che Guevara's home town.

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