On Christmas Eve, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivered his Christmas message and bluntly stated his intention to defend Christians around the world, saying, “We stand with Christians everywhere, in solidarity, and will defend your right to practice your faith.”

Johnson began by wishing “a merry little Christmas,” then continued, “It’s that special time of year when, whatever has gone before, we can take an opportunity to celebrate all that is good in the world and to spend time with our friends and family. Christmas Day is, first and foremost, a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a day of inestimable importance to billions of Christians the world over.”

Johnson thanked the nation’s health care workers, its police and other “public servants working tirelessly this Christmas” before segueing to thanking the members of Britain’s Armed Forces currently on deployment and their families for spending a Christmas without them.

Then Johnson made his stand regarding persecuted Christians around the world:

Today of all days, I want us to remember those Christians around the world who are facing persecution. For them, Christmas Day will be marked in private, in secret, perhaps even in a prison cell. As Prime Minister, that’s something I want to change. We stand with Christians everywhere, in solidarity, and will defend your right to practice your faith. So as a country let us reflect on the year, and celebrate the good that is to come.

He concluded, “And whoever you are, wherever you are, and however you’re celebrating, have a very happy Christmas, and I’ll see you all again in the New Year.”

According to Open Doors, between November 1, 2017 and October 31, 2018, there were “over 245 million Christians living in places where they experience high levels of persecution; 4,305 Christians killed for their faith; 1,847 churches and other Christian buildings attacked, and 3,159 believers detained without trial, arrested, sentenced or imprisoned.”

Open Doors continued:

In some countries, Christian persecution takes place under authoritarian governments. In places like North Korea or Eritrea, authoritarian governments seek to control all religious thought and expression as part of a comprehensive plan to tightly oversee all aspects of political and everyday life … In some places, there is great hostility towards nontraditional and minority religious groups viewed as foreign or non-native to the culture. For example, in Niger, more than 98 percent of the population is Muslim, and hostility comes more from society than from the government. In India, Hindu nationalists claim that to be Indian is to be Hindu, so non-Hindus—religious minorities like Christians and Muslims—are targeted for abuse.

USA Today reported On Christmas Eve: