Bishop Robert Barron recently stated that Christians are the most persecuted religious people in the world right now. I don’t have a way to confirm that, but it does seem that there are a lot of countries that are intent in limiting the scope of Christianity and the ability of Christians to teach the Gospel freely. Four cases come immediately to mind, and perhaps the most disturbing detail is that three of the four are from Western democracies:

Finland. On March 26, the Supreme Court of Finland, in a 3-2 vote, convicted Bishop Juhana Pohjola of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland (ELMDF) and Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen of hate speech. Their crime? In 2004 Dr. Räsänen authored and Bishop Pohjola published a booklet explaining the biblical teaching on human sexuality, including homosexuality. The booklet was part of a series of such booklets on a variety of topics related to Christian faith and published online. The Court ruled that some of the statements in the book were insulting to homosexuals and that keeping the booklet online was illegal. Apparently, in Finland it is illegal to publish anything online that homosexuals might find insulting. What’s even more horrifying about this case is that the two “convicts” have had to endure seven years of being investigated and prosecuted for this matter. Two previous trials – not one, but two – before the Helsinki District Court in 2022 and the Helsinki Court of Appeal in 2023 unanimously acquitted the defendents on all charges. Apparently, however, there’s no “double jeopardy” protections in Finland, for the prosecutors appealed the decisions, which is why the case finally ended up at the Supreme Court. Bishop Pohjola said in response to his conviction: “This court decision is a defeat not only for us and those who adhere to traditional Christian teaching, but also for those who think differently, because the issue of freedom of speech and religion is common to all. We continue to teach that every person is equal in the image of God but that, in light of the revelation of the Bible, practicing homosexuality as a way of life deviates from God’s order of creation.” For her part, Dr. Räsänen said the following: “I am shocked and profoundly disappointed that the court has failed to recognize my basic human right to freedom of expression. I stand by the teachings of my Christian faith, and will continue to defend my and every person’s right to share their convictions in the public square.” The bishop and the MP plan on appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.

Northern Ireland. On May 7, retired pastor Clive Johnston, 78-years-old, was convicted of breaching the “safe access zone” surrounding Causeway Hospital in Coleraine on July 7, 2024. Northern Ireland’s Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act forbids “preventing or impeding access” to or “causing harassment, alarm, or distress” to people within 100 meters of any hospital or clinic that performs abortions. Even though Pastor Johnston was not preaching about abortion, the judge decided that his preaching about John 3:16, one of the best-known verses of the Gospels and a synopsis of the Gospel message, constituted a violation of the Safe Access Act. Johnston was fined for his actions and may represent the first person convicted under the Safe Access Act that was not protesting or preaching about abortion.

Pastor Clive Johnston

Of his conviction, Johnston said: “It effectively redefines peaceful Christian witness as a form of unlawful ‘influence.’ If simply reading the Bible, praying, and preaching on God’s love can now be considered harmful because someone might overhear it within a certain area, then we have crossed a very serious line. John 3:16 is one of the most well-known and hope-filled verses in the Bible — a message about God’s love and salvation. If even that can be criminalized because of where it is spoken, then how can any public expression of Christian belief be truly safe from restriction?”

England. Pastor Steve Maile was arrested by London police after someone complained about the 66-year-old pastor preaching a Christian message, then began speaking to Islam’s history of violence and calling on Muslims to covert to Jesus. The pastor was arrested on a hate speech charges. “It’s called inciting religious hatred – which is false,” Maile said. “The cross of Christ is a message of hope, love, mercy, and reconciliation to a fallen world … How could that be hate?” Maile is a singer and senior pastor at Oasis City Church in Watford, England, and has traveled the world preaching the gospel as a missionary. Maile claims that he was held for twelve hours without permission to use his phone or a bathroom and that he was falsely charged with assaulting a teenager, a charge that was later dropped. In the UK, a person can be charged with a Section 5 offense if they extend threats or abusive language toward another that cause “harassment, alarm, or distress.”

Pastor Steve Maile arrested in London

The punishment for such is typically a fine. However, a charge of “religiously aggravated” language can trigger a more serious punishment, including months or years in prison. Maile’s case brings to mind a similar one, also in England, in which Pastor Dia Moodley, 58-years-old, was arrested on November 22, 2025 for comments he made about Islam and transgender ideology while peacefully street preaching in Broadmead. Moodley was arrested on suspicion of “inciting religious hatred” and a “religiously aggravated public order offence” per Section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986. After a four month investigation, where Moodley was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, police notified him that the charges would be dropped and no further action would be taken against him. However, the arrest and charges did prevent Moodley from preaching during the Christmas and Easter seasons.

Egypt. In October 2025, Augustinos Samaan, a Coptic Christian scholar, was arrested for his online videos that explains the Christian faith to his 100,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. Samaan was charged under Article 98(f) of the Egyptian Penal Code, part of Egypt’s “blasphemy codes,” for “misuse of social media” and “contempt of religion.” His videos explained Christian teaching and sometimes addressed the differences between Christianity and Islam that were critical of Islam. As such, they were judged an offense against Islam. Last month, Egyptian authorities sentenced Samaan to five years in prison and hard labor for his crime. Samaan has filed an appeal to overturn his conviction. Christians in Egypt are concerned that Samaan’s arrest and conviction is part of a larger pattern where many others have also been arrested for online content speaking about their Christian faith, their conversions to Christianity, or simply discussing and critiquing religious matters. It seems the blasphemy laws are being interpreted more broadly, to include anything that might be perceived as critical of or even in conflict with Islam. Naturally, anything that explains Christian teaching is going to be in conflict with Islam, by definition.

Augustino Samaan

The first right delineated in the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution is: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Religious freedom has been held sacred in the United States since its founding. Even here, though, there have been those who have attempted to thwart that freedom, or limit it by interpreting it to mean merely a right to worship without interference from the government, but not necessasarily to practice or express one’s faith in the public square. Many would limit people of faith from even participating in the political process by demanding that bills be shot down if they smell of anything to do with a religious agenda or there’s any suspicion of their having their origins in religious fervor. The mantra, “You can’t impose your religious beliefs on everyone else!” is used to discourage legislation that would place any limits at all on the activities of free citizens who interpret their freedom to mean doing whatever they please with whomever they please, while demanding that society embrace or at least tolerate their activities.

But we here in the U. S. don’t suffer anything compared to our confreres around the globe. In country after country, even in Western democracies, laws are passed and enforced that, if not quite make Christianity illegal, do make any public expression of Christianity illegal that appears to be or is interpreted as being offensive to others, in particular to the LGBTQ+ community, to Islam, or to secularists who cannot abide even the hint of Christian faith impeding on their lives, especially when it comes to abortion. The other great source of Christian persecution in the world is, of course, communism. Christians in China live under constant surveillance, as do all citizens, and can at any time learn of their pastor or their priest or bishop being taken by authorities and not heard from again, and their churches and shrines razed. Catholicism is essentially illegal in Nicaragua.

It is the promise of our faith that, if we share in the sufferings of Christ, we will share in His glory (Rom 8:17). Far too often, that promise is one Christians have to hold Christ to. Of course, Jesus keeps His promises, so there is no concern there. But we who have the privilege of living in a society where our faith is largely respected, at least under the law, cannot afford to forget our brothers and sisters in Christ who live where the threat of arrest, or imprisonment, or even death is very real. In too many Western democracies, the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is being supressed to accommodate and keep happy those who hate that message. We cannot afford to stay silent.

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Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.