From the Daily Declaration by Kurt Mahlburg

Christianity is the world’s most persecuted religion, the European Parliament recently declared, using the term ‘Christianophobia’ in a formal resolution for the first time.

The European Parliament has used the term ‘Christianophobia’ in a formal resolution for the first time, declaring Christianity the most persecuted religion in the world and calling out the EU’s failure to appoint a coordinator to combat anti-Christian hatred — a position that already exists for Islamophobia.

The resolution, adopted in Strasbourg earlier this year, stated in Paragraph 84: “Christianity remains the most persecuted religion in the world today, with more than 380 million people affected.”

“There is no European coordinator responsible for combating Christianophobia, even though a coordinator has been appointed to combat Islamophobia,” it added.

The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) welcomed the resolution and urged the European Commission to act on it.

“Taking note of this important statement by the European Parliament, COMECE encourages the European Commission to give serious consideration to the appointment of an EU Coordinator responsible for this field,” the bishops’ body said in a statement last month.

The resolution — formally titled the Annual Human Rights Report 2025 and adopted under reference TA-10-2026-0014 — also condemned the persecution of Christian communities in the Middle East.

It described Christian communities from the Middle East as “among the oldest in the world,” noting they continue to face “severe persecution, discrimination, forced displacement and restrictions on their freedom of religion or belief.”

In January, Pope Leo XIV had raised the same concern. “We must not forget a subtle form of religious discrimination against Christians,” he said, “which is spreading even in countries where they are in the majority, such as in Europe.”

Coalition and Pushback

The specific language of Christianophobia was the result of sustained amendment work by centre-right and conservative MEPs.

The European People’s Party (EPP) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) drove the provisions, with Dutch MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen (ECR) and Croatian MEP Davor Stier (EPP) leading the effort in coordination with Aid to the Church in Need. The Patriots for Europe group also supported the text.

The final vote drew backing from a cross-partisan majority that included a significant portion of the Renew Europe group, whose members argued religious freedom is an indivisible pillar of human rights.

Radical left groupings and some Greens opposed the specific mention, reportedly concerned it would create a hierarchy among victims of religious hatred.

The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) welcomed the result, noting the Parliament “not only acknowledges the global scale of anti-Christian persecution but also highlights an institutional asymmetry within the EU’s existing anti-discrimination architecture.”

The Coordinator Question

COMECE proposed that the future coordinator’s title refer to “anti-Christian hatred” rather than ‘Christianophobia’, to align with existing EU positions on other communities and to avoid a term built on the contested concept of ‘phobia’.

The bishops’ body also called for dedicated funding through the EU’s forthcoming AgoraEU instrument.

The push for the role has been building for over a year. In December 2024, COMECE adviser Alessandro Calcagno told a European Parliament conference: “The time is ripe for the appointment of an EU Coordinator to combat anti-Christian hatred.”

In November 2025, COMECE Vice-President Mgr Czeslaw Kozon raised the same call directly with EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner.

The resolution also called for the timely appointment of an EU Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief — a post that has remained vacant for more than a year.

A Framework for Action

The resolution is political in nature and does not bind the European Commission to act. Whether the Commission appoints a coordinator — and on what timeline — remains to be seen.

The text of the resolution notes that the EU’s post for combating Islamophobia already exists as a standing institutional position.

COMECE’s statement drew a direct line: the protection of Christian communities in Europe “must become tangible” through both a dedicated coordinator and financial support.

The resolution, COMECE said, marks a point at which the European Parliament has moved beyond recording statistics toward providing “a legal and political framework for action.”