Among religious groups worldwide, Christians, especially converts to Christianity, experience the most persecution.

Omissions

• The claim presents 'most persecuted' as an objective fact, but the supporting metrics differ: Pew Research measures the number of countries where a group is harassed (Christians 166, with Muslims also harassed in nearly as many countries), while Open Doors' World Watch List only ranks countries by persecution of Christians and does not compare groups directly.
• Open Doors is a Christian advocacy organisation whose methodology focuses exclusively on Christians, so its 'most persecuted' headline is not an independent cross-religious comparison.
• The specific assertion that converts to Christianity experience the most persecution was not confirmed by the sources found.
• The most recent pre-session data (Pew's 2023 wave published November 2024; Open Doors World Watch List 2026 published January 2026) were both available to the MEP before the 9 July 2026 session.

Sources

• PrimaryOpen Doors World Watch List 2026The World Watch List is Open Doors' annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. More than 388m Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.
• PrimaryPew Research Center — Religious Freedom & Restrictions topic pagePew Research Center tracks harassment of religious groups and interference in worship as common forms of government restrictions worldwide; its global religious restrictions studies consistently find Christians among the groups harassed in the most countries.
• SecondaryOpen Doors US — 5 Things You Need to Know About the 2026 World Watch ListMore than 388 million Christians face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. That's one in seven Christians, worldwide.
• SecondaryVatican News — Open Doors: Number of Christians persecuted worldwide risesThe number of Christians exposed to persecution and at risk of suffering violence worldwide rose by 8 million people compared to last year.
• SecondaryReligion Unplugged — New Global Pew Survey Shows Rising Religious IntoleranceThe report also found Christians "were harassed by governments or social actors" in 166 countries — an increase from 160 the previous year.