Persecuted church support organisation Open Doors is again putting the spotlight on the risks many Christians face for practicing their faith at Easter.
The organisation says that some 526 Christians have lost their lives during Easter celebrations around the world over the past seven years with hundreds more injured.
St Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade, was one of the churches attacked in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, 2019 (picture taken in 2017). PICTURE: AntanO (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Among the incidents in which Christians were killed was the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka in which some 259 Christians lost their lives and more than 500 were injured, Palm Sunday attacks on two churches in Cairo, Egypt, in 2019, in which 44 people were killed and more than 100 injured, and a bombing in a park in Lahore, Pakistan in which 75 people were killed including 29 children. Last year on 28th March, 20 people were injured in a bombing on Palm Sunday in a church in Makassar, south Sulawesi.
Open Doors says that last year 1,000 more Christians were killed for their faith than the year before, 1,000 more Christians were detained, and 600 more churches were attacked or closed.
A report accompanying its annual World Watch List ranking of countries where persecution is worst found 360 million Christians were experiencing a high to extreme level of persecution in more than 50 countries – a figure which equates to one in seven Christians worldwide and which open doors says represents the highest level of persecution since it began publishing the list.
The ‘One With Them’ campaign is again raising funds to support churches with emergency relief and practical support when attacks happen. The organisation is asking people to commit one day’s wage to the survival of the persecuted church.
Mike Gore, the CEO of Open Doors Australia, said in a statement that the organisation was committed to “bringing to light the persecution of Christians across the globe”.
“Our goal is to equip and strengthen the global Church while highlighting how millions experience increased risk of violence, especially at Easter,” he said. “We are the body of Christ. That body is hurting; we need to stand with them.”
