Christians attacked throughout the OSCE region

· The Organization for safety and Cooperation in Europe published a study on hatred crimes against Christians in 46 countries in 2022.· The publication includes reports of cases reported by the Ordo Iuris Institute.· Among the situations described were, among others, assaulting Catholic priests and threatening them with death, acts of vandalism, disruption of Holy Mass, or attack with a dangerous tool.· The OSCE study includes 82 hatred crimes against Christians in Poland, reported by social organizations.A number of factors affect hatred crimes, including the position of minorities or majority in a given territory, the level of designation of individual spiritual groups in a given country or the relation of political groups and media to Christians. Report The OSCE on hatred crimes includes reports of physical assaults and murders. The publication besides indicates that graffiti and vandalism against places of worship, desecration of cemeteries and arson of churches are among the most common types of crimes motivated by prejudice against Christians.The study besides includes hatred crimes committed in Poland, including those reported by the Ordo Iuris Institute for Physical Attacks on spiritual Persons. 1 of the events active a man who attacked a rectory in the Valleys at night. The perpetrator destroyed the gates, the entrance door, the thermal insulation and the elevations of the rectory building. Death threats were directed towards the priests. An equally dangerous situation occurred in the church in Zabrze erstwhile the celebration of the evening Mass was disrupted. During the Eucharist, 2 men entered the church. 1 of them, in the presence of a priest and praying believers, fired a firecracker at the altar. The study besides describes an attack armed with a knife on a bishop's driver during an authoritative canonical visit to Myślenice. The attacker hit the driver with a fewer sharp tackles and then fled the scene. The injured man was transported to a infirmary in severe condition.The study shows that in 2022 8106 cases of hatred crimes were reported in Europe in 46 countries. In 2021 it was 6391 crimes, which gives an increase of almost 27%. In 2022 852 hatred crimes were committed against Christians. By comparison, in 2021 it was 775 acts, which means that an increase of almost 10% is noticeable.In the case of the OSCE Poland, it is reported that 1180 hatred crimes were reported in 2022. In comparison, there were 991 reported crimes in 2021, which gives an increase of 18%. In addition to police statistics, the study takes into account crimes reported by NGOs. Moreover, in fresh times it is besides possible to observe the undergrading of the number of hatred crimes due to the alarming trend of antagonizing Polish society to offending Christians' statements and behaviours, including from politicians or representatives of the media. The authors of the study besides stated that in Poland, despite the amendment of the Criminal Code in July 2022, as well as training organised by the National Judicial School and the Public Prosecutor's Office for representatives of the judiciary, they inactive have difficulty distinguishing between hatred crimes and another crimes. Therefore, the OSCE considers that there is simply a request for further training of police officers and prosecutors. The Ordo Iuris Institute has been moving a programme to monitor cases of hatred crimes in Poland since 2015. In May 2023, the Institute submitted to the OSCE report listing 77 cases of spiritual aggression against Christians in Poland. In addition, in 2018 it was established Religious Freedom Centerthe intent of which is to collect information on violations of spiritual freedom as well as legal intervention.