The debate around religious persecution in Australia tends to treat evidence of Christian persecution internationally as a hammer to wield against local Christians – you can’t say you’re persecuted here, since none of these things happens to you. That tends to be where concern for overseas Christian persecution ends.
There’s no doubt that persecution narratives make for good politics. Recent debates have highlighted that if you can show that your ‘group’ has been the victim of unwarranted discrimination, you can frame debates in a way that makes any opposing argument part of that same bigotry. The moment that same sex marriage advocates started using the term ‘marriage equality’ their work was half-done – anyone wanting a deeper debate about the historical and anthropological roots of marriage found themselves thrown out of the conversation along with homophobic bigots.
But if we set aside the politics, persecution stories are about a desire for justice. They’re about helping those without a voice find one, and doing what we can to advocate for a better world for all. In a society that cares about the welfare of all people, unjust discrimination against any particular group is a cause for concern.
However, it seems that it’s more difficult to call attention to Christian persecution. There’s some understandable hesitation in focusing solely on Christianity in the West, as it can often lead to criticism of people from other religious traditions, particularly Islam. The reality, of course, is that many religious communities suffer persecution around the world. This includes state-sanctioned violence and repression against Muslims in places like Gaza and China, and vandalism and other attacks on minority religious communities even here in Australia. Any religious persecution is to be deplored, and persecution locally obviously needs to be deplored more vigorously.
Another reason for the hesitation may be the link between Christianity and Western colonisation, such that any repression of Christians in former colonies might somehow be justified as a response to those historical injustices. However, in many places the Christians who are persecuted have roots tracing back millennia. A century ago, Christians made up 20 per cent of the population of the Middle East and North Africa. Today, they make up fewer than 4 per cent of the population. In Palestine, the region where Christianity first took root, the proportion of Christians has fallen from 15 per cent to just 2 per cent. We don’t tend to think about these places as Christian, and yet until recently Christianity had been an important part of their culture throughout history. We should be as shocked by the loss of that culture as much as we were by the destruction of ancient Buddhist temples in Afghanistan two decades ago.
In exploring some of these often-ignored stories, Aid to the Church in Need’s Persecuted and Forgotten? report is worth more than just a cursory glance. The report focuses on 18 different countries across the world where Christians are suffering persecution from the state or being attacked by extremists.
In addition to documenting persecution in parts of North Africa and the Middle East, the report also highlights the targeting of Christian communities in non-Islamic contexts such China, India and most recently Nicaragua. In Nicaragua, the Government has arrested and expelled dozens of bishops, priests and seminarians, and cancelled the legal status of numerous Catholic institutions and organisations. It also highlights countries where Christians have been targeted by violent extremists, often with little protection from local authorities.
'While the world has rightly focused on the displacement and destruction of homes in Gaza, precious little attention has been paid to the Azerbaijan Government’s efforts to erase an entire culture.'
One of the more prominent case studies explores the attacks by Islamic extremists on Christian villages in Nigeria on Christmas Eve last year, in which more than 300 people were killed. As of June this year, no one had been charged for carrying out the attacks. Christians who fled from the violence remain uncertain whether they can safely return home – those who tried found several farms and food barns burned down by the extremists. ‘We are used to this charade’, said Father Andrew Dewan, from Pankshin Diocese where the attacks took place. ‘Attackers are often arrested and later set free. Politicians give speeches that contain no grain of truth. They make promises and pledges of rehabilitating and reinstating all those displaced back to their ancestral homes, but that is often not the case.’
The report also highlights the threats to Christian women and girls around the world – with girls as young as 10 suffering abduction, sexual violence, forced marriage and forced conversion. In one case, Erin Shehata, a 21-year-old Egyptian student, disappeared at the start of 2024 while in the middle of her university examinations. On the day she was abducted, the religion field on her ID card was changed from Christian to Muslim. The following month, her brother received a brief phone call from her, screaming and crying for help, telling them the name of her kidnapper. Local authorities have told the family to drop the matter, claiming that she is with a Muslim man of her own free will. Her family still hasn’t heard from her.
One situation not covered in the report is the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Christians in Nagorno-Karabach last year. In just a few days last September, more than 100,000 Armenian Christians were forced to flee into neighbouring Armenia, with little prospect of safe return. A community that could trace its presence in the region back more than 2000 years was reduced to just a handful of people too elderly or disabled to leave. While the world has rightly focused on the displacement and destruction of homes in Gaza, precious little attention has been paid to the Azerbaijan Government’s efforts to erase an entire culture.
November 20 is Red Wednesday. A number of churches across Australia will join communities around the world in lighting up in red, and holding Masses and gatherings to pray for persecuted Christians. We don’t need to be involved in the culture wars to see the value in such initiatives. Persecution against any group should be cause for concern.
Michael McVeigh is Head of Publishing and Digital Content at Jesuit Communications.
Main image: Church in Gaza. (Ismael Martinez Sanchez/ACN)