Anti-religious hate in France: What does the government report reveal?

The Interior Ministry this week published a report providing “a comprehensive overview” of anti-religious acts recorded in France between 2010 and 2025, with a particular focus on the past year.

The document highlights the significant rise in attacks on people and property motivated by “a real or perceived affiliation to a religion, or a connection with religious practice”.

_”_After a slight dip in 2020, partly attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on movement, anti-religious acts have increased significantly following Hamas’s terrorist attack of 7 October 2023 and the Israel-Hamas conflict, driven by the rise in antisemitic acts and, to a lesser extent, anti-Muslim acts”, the report says.

For the government, this resurgence illustrates “a worrying reality: anti-religious hatred is on the rise and affects all faiths, across our entire territory”.

The report, which focuses on the three main monotheistic religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism), also stresses that the figures are probably “underestimated”, as not all victims of anti-religious acts file complaints.

“These anti-religious acts undermine freedom of conscience and the free exercise of religion”, the Interior Ministry warns. “They weaken national cohesion. They endanger the very balance of our society”.

Between 2010 and 2015, anti-Christian and antisemitic acts accounted for 43% and 41% respectively of all anti-religious acts, compared with around 14% of anti-Muslim acts.

Since 2015, the total number of anti-religious acts has risen sharply across France (+21% between 2015 and 2025), but the proportions vary considerably between faiths.

More than half of anti-religious acts are now antisemitic

Antisemitic acts have been rising steadily since 2010, with a record peak in 2023 following the Hamas attacks of 7 October.

The document notes that “the resurgence of antisemitic acts began as early as the day after 7 October 2023, even before any Israeli response”, with a 1,209% jump between September and October.

Of the 1,676 antisemitic incidents recorded by the National Territorial Intelligence Directorate (DNRT) in 2023, 1,242 occurred between 7 October and 31 December 2023 alone.

Although the number of antisemitic acts in France fell slightly in 2025, it remains at “a historically high level”. They now account for around 53% of anti-religious acts (a 203% increase in antisemitic acts between 2022 and 2025).

Most of these acts involve attacks on individuals (890 incidents in 2025, or 67% of antisemitic acts), compared with 33% targeting property. They mainly consist of “threatening remarks and gestures (576 incidents, or 44%), graffiti and other inscriptions (402 incidents, or 30%), physical assaults (126 incidents, or 10%) and damage (117 incidents, or 9%) of an antisemitic nature”.

The document points to the steady rise in physical violence against Jewish people, with the number of such incidents tripling since 2022 (42 that year compared with 126 in 2025).

The ministry also warns of “the persistence of antisemitism among younger generations”, which it largely attributes to “the wider spread of violent speech and behaviour” on social media, particularly since 7 October 2023.

Rise in anti-Christian acts in 2025

Anti-Christian acts have also been climbing steadily since 2010. They peaked in 2018, with 1,063 incidents reported, before easing slightly between 2019 and 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Their number, however, started to rise again last year.

“A total of 843 anti-Christian incidents were recorded in 2025, an increase of 9% on 2024, driven by the rise in attacks on individuals (+70% compared with 2024)”, the ministry said.

These incidents now account for a third (34%) of all anti-religious acts. While attacks on property remain overwhelmingly dominant (87% of reported incidents), attacks on individuals rose sharply in 2025 (109 incidents reported, up 70% on 2024).

“Physical assaults targeting members of the Christian community doubled in 2025, with 23 incidents recorded, compared with 11 in 2024”, the report notes. “They consist mainly of physical attacks on leaders of places of worship (14 incidents), whose number quadrupled in a single year”.

The year 2025 was notably marked by the murder of Ashur Sarnaya, a 45-year-old Iraqi Christian, on 10 September in Lyon.

The authorities also recorded a sharp rise in the disruption of religious services and threats against worshippers (+86% in 2025, with 54 incidents reported compared with 29 in 2024).

Almost all anti-Christian acts target the Catholic community (817 incidents in 2025), while Protestant and Orthodox communities reported 22 and 4 incidents respectively that year.

Sharp rise in attacks on Muslims

Finally, the ministry notes an overall increase in anti-Muslim acts between 2010 and 2024, with “a peak in the year of the 2015 terrorist attacks” (429 incidents in 2015).

Their number fell slightly between 2016 and 2018 before rising again in 2019, despite the restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2025, anti-Muslim acts accounted for around 13% of all anti-religious incidents.

“The year 2025 saw a very sharp increase in anti-Muslim acts, with 326 incidents recorded, up 88% on 2024 and 35% on 2023, driven mainly by the rise in attacks on individuals (+151%)”, the government notes.

This increase was punctuated by “spikes” over the past year, particularly around religious gatherings such as Ramadan, or heated public debates, including the one over the wearing of the headscarf in sport.

In this context, the ministry notes “a sharp rise in threatening remarks and gestures, with 158 incidents recorded in 2025 (up 210% on 2024)”, including a marked increase in cases where pig carcasses were dumped outside prayer rooms and places frequented by Muslims (25 incidents in 2025, up 317% on 2024).

According to the government, the resurgence of anti-Muslim acts is partly due to “better reporting of the phenomenon”, notably thanks to the creation of the Association for the Defence against Discrimination and Anti-Muslim Acts (ADDAM).

This organisation, dedicated to combating anti-Muslim acts, stepped up its monitoring role in 2025, in particular by setting up a reporting platform and establishing a partnership with the DNRT.

More than €47.8 million to secure places of worship

Faced with this alarming situation, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez says he wants to make the fight against anti-religious acts a priority, mobilising “a range of state services working in close cooperation”, including the ministries of Justice, Education, Culture, and Equality between Women and Men and the Fight against Discrimination.

The report also notes that the French state has allocated more than €47.8 million since 2015 “to fund the protection of nearly a thousand places of worship”.

The “Securing Religious Sites” (SSC) programme – previously known as “Programme K” – aims to support the rollout of CCTV and security systems at places of worship.

It helps finance, in particular, cameras inside and around religious buildings, anti-intrusion devices (armoured doors, video entryphones, intercoms, etc.), as well as security projects inside buildings (locks, safe rooms, and so on).

In the same vein, the Interior Ministry has also developed a half-day awareness-raising module to “inform faith communities about security and safety issues”. Aimed at local religious actors, the module also covers existing prevention and response mechanisms to tackle anti-religious acts.

Between its launch on 20 March 2025 and 31 December of the same year, “at least 224 awareness-raising sessions were held, benefiting 1,694 representatives and leaders of faith communities”, the ministry says, adding that these modules will continue in 2026.