Then, he added, the database is “updated in real time as new incidents are reported.”
To be included, Curry said an incident “must be recorded in publicly available sources.”
VID is particularly useful because it “tracks data for all religious groups, including Christians, something many other religious freedom datasets fail to do.”
Curry also said that “where possible,” VID also tracks the religions of the perpetrators, adding more context to the incidents.
Boundaries
Nina Shea, director of religious freedom at Hudson Institutetold CNA that while she believes Global Christian Relief is a reliable and robust group, reliance on the self-report database means that “undoubtedly many murders go unnoticed.”
According to Shea, databases “generally do not provide analysis of the motive for the murder or the context that helps identify the perpetrator. It is therefore impossible to evaluate the data and determine which killings are actually cases of religious violence.”
She said databases often fail to identify perpetrators and classify them as “shooters” or “any other similar term,” rather than persecutors.
She said this is “part of the State Department’s problem in recognizing religious persecution in Nigeria,” although religious freedom groups recognize Nigeria as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for religious persecution. Christians.
Where is the worst persecution?
Curry told CNA that, based on data compiled by VID, Nigeria is “by far the country where Christians are most likely to be killed for their faith.”
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He added that other particularly concerning data found by VID is that India is “the country where Christians are most likely to be displaced” and that China is the place where “Christians are most likely to be arrested.”
Finally, Curry said Nicaragua has “closed the most churches since 2022.”
Peter Pinedo is DC correspondent for CNA. A graduate of Franciscan University, Peter previously worked for Texas Right to Life. He is a first lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve.
