“America remains today substantially what it has always been, namely a Christian country. That observation can sound aggressively partisan or intolerant, since some extremists believe that Americans are a Christian people who require a Christian government, with all that implies about religious exercises in schools and public displays. I make no such assertion, since I believe that religion flourishes best when it is kept farthest away from any form of government intervention, even the best-intentioned.”
— Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity
It is entirely accurate to say that Christianity continues to thrive as an international religion, spanning vast regions across the world. But it is also necessary to acknowledge that the global Christian community is not without its travails. And it is increasingly necessary to take a careful look at the “world’s largest religious group,” revealing not only thriving communities across several continents, but also increasing numbers of endangered religious believers who continue to face real threats to their survival.
Historically, Christianity has been viewed as a Western religion, despite its earliest beginnings in the Middle East. However, today, Sub-Saharan Africa has surpassed Europe as home to the world’s largest Christian community. Between 2010 and 2020, the population of sub-Saharan Africa grew by 31% to 1.1 billion. As of 2020, most people living in the region are Christians (62%), while Muslims make up about a third of the population. Religiously unaffiliated people and followers of other religions (which include African traditional religions) each account for roughly 3% of the overall population.
At the same time, as Pew Research reports, “Places such as Iraq, Syria, the Palestinian Territories, and, to a lesser degree, Egypt and Lebanon have seen a continuation of the historic exodus of Christians during the past decade alone. The decline is especially significant when one considers that these communities are among the oldest Christian communities in the world. Amid all the modern political forms that have shaped the Middle Eastern geopolitical order, the Christian presence in the region pre-dates Islam, Zionism, Arab nationalism, European colonialism, Western Christianity, and the modern missions movement. It also gives us a unique perspective on geopolitical forces and persecution.”
Persecution continues to be an ever-increasing threat to communities of Christian believers in the Middle East. No doubt the most glaring example of such violence is the ongoing abuse and killing of Christians by the Islamic State, along with other ideologically and religiously hostile groups and organizations. Such violence has been formally recognized as an ongoing genocide by the United States, European Union, and United Kingdom.
However, despite their deeply rooted biblical history, Christians remain the most persecuted religious group in the Middle East. In fact, Christians in Iraq are “close to extinction,” Wikipedia recently reported. Meanwhile, according to U.S. State Department estimates, the number of Christians in Iraq has reportedly fallen from 1.2 million in 2011 to 120,000 in 2024, and the number in Syria from 1.5 million to 300,000 — diminishing numbers driven by persecution by terrorist groups and repression by authoritarian regimes.
Although laws vary from country to country, some enforce strict restrictions on religious practices, and specifically on Christianity. One organization monitoring religious freedom abuses, Global Christian Relief, exposes the severity of some restrictions:
“Laws regarding Christianity in the Middle East vary widely, but many countries impose severe restrictions on religious practices. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, public Christian worship is strictly prohibited. Churches cannot be built, and even private religious gatherings can lead to arrest. Owning or displaying Christian symbols, such as a crucifix or a Bible, is illegal. This lack of religious freedom underscores the harsh reality for Christians in the region. In Iran, while Armenian and Assyrian Christians are recognized as religious minorities, they still face significant restrictions. Conversion from Islam to Christianity is forbidden, and converts can be subjected to imprisonment or even execution. Similarly, in Iraq, Christians have faced intense persecution, especially from extremist groups like ISIS, which have targeted Christian populations, resulting in mass displacements and destruction of churches.”
Christian Communities in the Middle East
Despite these challenges, there are still significant Christian populations in the Middle East. Lebanon is home to a considerable number of Christians, including Maronite Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Protestant communities. Those Lebanese Christians enjoy a relatively higher degree of religious freedom and political representation.
In Egypt, the Coptic Orthodox Church is the largest Christian community. However, Copts often face discrimination and violence, including attacks on churches and kidnappings. Palestinian Christians, another significant group, mainly reside in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Israel. They often face additional challenges due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which affects their mobility and access to religious sites.
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, Christians face serious and largely unreported abuse. The following was reported by the European Union:
“Only 2% of the population of the Gaza Strip consists of Palestinian Christians. Since the consolidation of power by Hamas, there has been repeated violence against this community. Between 2007 and 2011, there have been acts of vandalism and bomb attacks on Christian schools, homes and institutions, as well as cases of murder and, recently, attempted murder against members of the Christian community. The failure to carry out investigations or arrests following these incidents suggests that Hamas has no intention of intervening to stop this persecution of Christians. … In addition, it was confirmed by a Canadian NGO towards the end of 2009 that members of Hamas have repeatedly desecrated Christian graves and exhumed the bodies, in order to ‘decontaminate’ the soil from the corpses of Christians who they believe to be unworthy of burial on Palestinian land.”
In light of the ongoing mistreatment, Middle East Christians have limited options. Presently, an estimated 18,480,000 believers have been displaced or killed. Thousands have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than a million have been depopulated from Iraq, and another 1,200,000 from Syria — according to a recent Wikipedia report.
In her book “The Vanishing,” Janine di Giovanni described the plight of persecuted believers she met in the Middle East“There was a young man in Cairo who belongs to a Christian Copt community in which people make their living picking garbage. He told me how while growing up, he always felt like ‘the other.’ I also think of the Christians in Gaza who are caught between the Israeli siege and the rule of Hamas. Due to the severe travel restrictions placed on Palestinians, they can’t leave Gaza to visit Bethlehem at Christmas.
“And I think of an ancient monastery in Iraq that I visited one evening. It was about six o’clock, maybe later, and the sun was setting. I heard this ethereal singing. I entered the monastery and found a room where a Chaldean monk was chanting in Aramaic. It was the evensong, which is the evening prayer. He sat with me and spoke to me about faith and about being rooted to this land and how vital it was that Christian people remain there. I recall the Christians who told me about how they fled ISIS, taking nothing and leaving their homes in the middle of the night.”
As Western Christians, most of us face little more than mockery or disappointing attitudes among friends and family toward our walk with the Lord. It is stories such as this that call us to remember — and pray for — our brothers and sisters across the world. What can we do for them? It’s up to us to make their plight known — to speak up about the injustices and abuses they face every day as outspoken believers in dangerous places. And above all else, to remember them in our hearts and our daily prayers and to remind the world of their names. They are facing persecution and dangers we can hardly imagine.