Christians Most Persecuted Religious Group In the World, Study Says

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Staff

According to the director of a prominent religious study group, Christians are 2016’s most persecuted religious group in the world, with around 90,000 killed for their Christian faith this year.

Director of the Centre for Studies on New Religions (Cesnur), Massimo Introvigne, recently expressed via an interview on Vatican Radio, that around half a billion Christians living in the world are still actively unable to openly express their faith freely.

Furthermore, around 90,000, or roughly one every six minutes, was killed for their Christian faith in the 2016 calendar year.

During the interview, Mr.Introvigne noted around 70 percent of Christians that were murdered in 2016, died as a direct result of rural tribal conflicts in Africa.

“The influential Center for Study of Global Christianity next month will publish its statistics in 2016, about 90,000 Christians killed for their faith, one death every six minutes, a bit ‘decreased compared to 105,000 two years does,” Introvigne said. “Of these, 70 percent, or 63,000, were killed in tribal conflicts in Africa.”

“The other 30 percent, or 27,000, comes instead from terrorist attacks, destruction of Christian villages, governmental persecution, as in the case of North Korea,” Introvigne added.

The statistics, which are due to be formally released next month, show that the overall number of Christians killed is down from 105,000 in 2015, reports Breitbart News.

However, Introvigne still suggests Christians remain the most persecuted religious group on Earth in modern times.

During the interview, Introvigne touched on the subject of the atrocities Christians have endured in Iraq and Syria since the rise of the Islamic State, mentioning the Vatican is considering possible sainthood for individual Christians killed in occupied territories controlled by the terrorists organization.

“Yes, in the territories of the so-called Islamic State there are several cases, including some that the Church is studying in preparation for a possible beatification,” he said. “There are Christians who have consciously chosen to remain in these areas and to continue, as they could, to bear witness to their faith.”

(Written & Edited by Bart Charles Begley)