Hate crimes against Christians in Europe are more widespread than official reports show, the Vatican’s representative to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has said.

In a statement before a sitting of the OSCE in Vienna, Austria, Monsignor Janusz Urba?czyk asserted that “poor attention is given to hate crimes committed against majority communities” and such crimes, being “under-reported and under-recorded”, leads to the conclusion “that hate crimes  against  members  of  religions  and, especially  against  Christians, are certainly more numerous than those indicated in the annual reporting of the [Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights]” –  the OSCE’s principal institution.

Pointing out that 60-70% of hate crimes were committed against properties and not persons, crimes considered “less serious”, Msgr Urba?czyk warned that this led to a risk that such crimes would not be fully investigated towards prosecution of offenders.

Such conclusions led the Holy See to make a number of recommendations to the OSCE, the Monsignor said.

“Firstly, [states] are called upon to collect, maintain and make public disaggregated data on hate crimes perpetrated against members of different religions; secondly, more attention should by given to hate crimes perpetrated against majority communities, both in data collection and training programmes for law enforcement, prosecutors and civil society.

“Furthermore, consideration should be given to developing specific initiatives pertaining to the protection of Christian communities, as has already been done by the ODIHR for the Jewish and the Muslim communities.”

All forms of hate crime, Msgr Urba?czyk said, “undoubtedly threaten the social cohesion inside each participating State, affecting the wider community that is the victim”.

Meanwhile, in Britain, a BBC radio presenter has been forced to quit his job after he described a Christian guest as a “bigot” for referencing the Bible during a discussion on homosexuality.

According to The Christian Institute, Iain Lee was hosting an on-air discussion prompted by the recent departure of a prison chaplain from his post after he was sanctioned for quoting the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality during a service at the prison chapel. As part of the discussion, Libby Powell, a lawyer with Christian Concern, which supports the chaplain, was invited into the studio.

During the subsequent discussion, Lee asked if Powell supported the chaplain’s “bigotry” and went on to berate her alleged lack of understanding of bigotry based on her reading of the Bible. Lee concluded that Powell herself was “a bigot”.

The BBC has since issued an apology for Lee’s tone, while Lee revealed that he would not be returning as a presenter.