According to the latest report from the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians Oppressed for Their Faith 2024–2026, religious freedom violations have reached alarming levels globally. Over 220 million Christians worldwide are directly exposed to severe persecution, while an estimated 413 million reside in nations where religious freedoms are systematically violated. The findings highlight that conditions worsened in 55% of the 18 countries evaluated, with none showing any measurable improvement compared to the previous reporting period.
Sub-Saharan Africa has emerged as the primary global epicenter of militant extremist violence against Christian communities. Corroborating data from the Global Terrorism Index 2026, six of the ten countries most impacted by terrorism—Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—are situated in this region. In Nigeria’s Middle Belt, militant attacks and radicalized Fulani herders have displaced over 3.5 million people, marked by horrific events like the Yelewata massacre where more than 200 Christians were killed in a single night. Similarly, jihadist expansion in Burkina Faso, Mali, and northern Mozambique has led to systemic killings, forced displacement, beheadings, and forced compliance with strict religious codes.
In Asia, persecution manifests through a combination of state-sponsored authoritarian repression and rising religious nationalism. North Korea continues to enforce extreme measures, treating Christianity as a direct political threat and holding an estimated 190,000 people—a significant portion of whom are Christians—in political prison camps under threat of torture or execution. In China, the state’s ongoing “sinicization” policy has tightened digital and social control over religious groups, including stricter regulations on online religious content introduced in late 2025 and targeted crackdowns on underground churches.
Religious extremism and social hostility also present growing dangers across South Asia. In India, radical anti-conversion laws and Hindutva rhetoric contributed to over 700 recorded incidents of violence against Christians in 2025 alone, ranging from disrupted worship services to physical assaults and burial rights denials. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, Christian communities face persistent threats from blasphemy accusations alongside the systemic abduction, forced conversion, and coerced marriage of underage girls from religious minorities—practices frequently upheld by local legal interpretations.