Aid to the Church in Need Launches 2024-2026 Report: Conditions for Christians Worsened in 10 of 18 Countries, at Least 1 Million Displaced in Nigeria
The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) launched the latest edition of its report Persecuted and Forgotten? on October 27, 2026, assessing the situation of Christians in 18 countries of key concern from 2024 to 2026. The report found that conditions failed to improve in any country assessed, while they deteriorated in 10, including Nigeria, China and Pakistan.
The report estimates that about 413 million Christians live in countries where serious violations of religious freedom occur, and that about 220 million are directly exposed to persecution. It says millions of Christians are part of a mass exodus of people displaced in conflict zones, some of it religiously motivated: in Nigeria alone, at least 1 million Christians have been forced from their homes. In Burkina Faso, militant Islamist groups have seized about 40 percent of the country's landmass, and the report records 2,000 people fleeing within 12 months in a single diocese. Sub-Saharan Africa emerged as one of the most dangerous regions in the world to be a Christian, with six of the 10 highest-ranked countries in the 2026 Global Terrorism Index located in Africa.
The report also states that Syria's Christian population has fallen by more than 80 percent since 2011, raising fears among senior church leaders for Christianity's survival in its Middle East heartland. It documents other forms of pressure as well: in Pakistan, the forced conversion and marriage of Christian girls remains endemic; in India, anti-conversion laws and religious nationalist rhetoric have contributed to hundreds of incidents targeting Christians; and in Nicaragua, Christian leaders have been arrested, imprisoned and exiled. North Korea is highlighted as a case where persecution is already so severe that conditions can scarcely worsen.
John Pontifex, ACN (UK)'s head of press and public affairs, said: 'Persecution has become a huge, yet often hidden, factor driving entire communities from their homes, changing the religious demography of entire regions, especially in Africa. What will it take for the world to act?' Persecuted and Forgotten? was first published in 2006; this is its 10th edition, now translated into multiple languages and released by ACN in countries around the world.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：尼日利亚首都阿布贾的尼日利亚国家教堂（资料图）。Kritzolina 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The National Church of Nigeria in Abuja, Nigeria (file photo). Photo by Kritzolina, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
