hatred is growing
Worrying numbers released by the Observatory on Intolerance and Anti-Christian
Discrimination in Europe.
Exponential
increase in anti-Christian attacks .
Hate
crimes on the rise
The OIDAC report 2022 / 2023 | OIDAC
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by Andrea Gagliarducci
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In
2022, hate crimes against Christians reached 748 documented cases, a 44 percent
increase compared to 2021, when 519 hate crimes were recorded. Cases of arson
against churches are also increasing exponentially, recording an increase of 75
percent between 2021 and 2022. These are the data from the Annual Report of the
Observatory for Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe.
Based
in Vienna, directed this year by Anja Hoffman, the observatory provides a
powerful and real snapshot of the situation of Christians in Europe. Every
week, it collects news of incidents of discrimination and intolerance, using
open sources, and highlighting a reality that is plain for all to see, yet
little known. Christians are, in the end, the most persecuted religion in the
world, as the various reports on religious freedom from Aid to the Church in
Need or Open Doors say, and this is also confirmed by the data from the latest
OSCE Annual Report on Hate Crimes , which documented 792 cases of
anti-Christian hatred in 34 European countries.
The
growth in arson cases is worrying, rising from 60 in 2021 to 105 in 2022, with
an increase of 75 percent. These attacks are concentrated mainly in Germany,
and then in France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
According
to Anja Hoffman, hate crimes, especially vandalism, are linked to extremism
which also results from a greater acceptance of church attacks in society.
“While – says the director of the Observatory – the reasons for the acts of
vandalism and the desecration of the Churches remained unclear, we now notice
that more and more perpetrators leave messages that reveal belonging to
extremist fringes and even proudly claim paternity of the crimes clerks. These
are often radicalized members of groups that follow an anti-Christian
narrative."
Regina
Polak, OSCE representative for the fight against racism, xenophobia and
discrimination, expressed concern about the ever-increasing number of cases of
anti-Christian hatred reported by the Observatory, and underlined that "it
is highly necessary to increase awareness of both the government that of
society to face and combat this problem decisively."
The
report also addresses the issue of different forms of religious discrimination.
Over the past year, several Christians have lost their jobs, been suspended, or
even faced criminal charges for expressing nonviolent religious views in
public, particularly on the issues of marriage and family when it was stated in
public that marriage is between man and woman and that sexual identity is made
up of man and woman.
These
are all opinions worthy of criminal proceedings, and it is a fact, said
Hofmann, "highly serious", also because the legislations of the
countries "use very vague language or unclear definitions of incitement to
hatred".
The
Observatory noted in particular the dismissals of teachers Ben Dybowski and
Joshua Sutcliffe, as well as the Reverend Bernard Randall, a school chaplain.
All dismissals occurred due to their beliefs about gender identity and family.
Anja
Hoffman denounces that "silencing Christian voices in public undermines
the plurality of Western democratic societies and makes free discourse
impossible."
Other limitations on religious freedom come from the bills on the so-called
"buffer zones" , which are found mainly in the United Kingdom and
which criminalize prayer and religious demonstrations, such as prayer
initiatives around criticism for abortion.
The
Observatory described as “particularly surprising” the arrest of Isabel
Vaughan- Spruce , who was arrested in one of the buffer zones and questioned
whether she was praying in her mind. The arrest illustrates concern about the
criminalization of “non-violent hate” incidents in the UK.
Other
forms of discrimination include those that violate the right of parents to
educate children in accordance with their religious beliefs and the limitation
of freedom of conscience through the elimination of conscience clauses from
existing provisions in medical laws.
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