It’s not easy to find a native Libyan Christian. Some sources say there are only 150 of them. And, for reasons of survival, they are not inclined to draw attention to themselves.

Despite the current scarcity of Christian natives, Libya’s links to Christianity go back almost as far as the faith itself: Simon of Cyrene, who helped Jesus carry his cross, came from a place now part of northeastern Libya.

Though neighboring Egypt retained a significant Christian minority during the last two millennia, this was not the case in Libya. Since the Islamic conquest of North Africa, Libya saw a persistent decline of Christianity until there were virtually no Christians among its native population.

The overwhelming majority of the 7 million people now living in Libya are Muslim. Almost all non-Muslims in Libya are foreign workers, typically from other African countries or Asia. A foreign Christian is generally tolerated more than a Libyan Christian, but that is not an especially high standard of religious freedom.

Libya is currently ranked the world’s ninth-most oppressive country for Christians. Two years ago, it was ranked as high as third, more oppressive than any country on earth except Somalia and North Korea.

The influence of Islamic extremists rose sharply following the 2011 Libyan revolution, which was part of the “Arab Spring” rebellions that occurred across several nations in the Middle East and North Africa region.

In Libya, the revolution culminated in the Oct. 20, 2011, capture and grisly killing of Muammar Gaddafi, who had held and abused power for four-plus decades.

Gaddafi was, by most anyone’s estimation, an evil man. But his demise created a power vacuum. In came the extremists, and they wanted to hunt.

One prominent example of this hunting took place in February 2015, when the Islamic State group (ISIS) decapitated 20 Coptic Egyptians and one Ghanaian Christian on a Libyan beach.

Video of this savagery also showed one jihadist gesturing with his knife toward the Mediterranean Sea and declaring, “We will conquer Rome, by Allah’s permission.”

Soon thereafter, in April 2015, ISIS executed 30 Christian Ethiopians in Libya.

Foreign Christians also began to fall prey to kidnapping for ransom or forced hard labor. There was even a return of open slave markets.

Amid such circumstances, the years following the “Arab Spring” saw as many as 90% of Christians in Libya leave the country.

Now, 15 years after its revolution, Libya is a politically fragmented state with various militias vying for power in much of the country.

At this point, Christians in Libya typically just “pray secretly in their homes behind closed doors so that no one sees them,” said “Nathaniel,” who came to Libya last year to work in Benghazi, the country’s second-largest city.

He said he received verbal abuse and threats just for talking online about wanting to attend one of the country’s few remaining open churches. Things could have gone worse yet had he broached the subject in person.

“Every religion or belief other than Islam is met with harsh condemnation here,” he added.

Though most of the people he interacts with at his workplace are fellow foreigners, Nathaniel actually had some good things to say about the Libyans he has encountered.

“If you need help,” he said, “they help you.” He also finds them reasonably sociable “as long as you do not make your beliefs known.”

He said he does not personally know any Christians in Libya who have faced serious problems based on their religion.

But multiple coworkers have told him about young Libyan Muslims who went abroad, often for university, and, while in an environment almost inevitably less restrictive than their homeland, expressed viewpoints online that “conflicted with Islam.”

Having expressed such opinions, they “were reported to state authorities by relatives or friends who remained in the country,” Nathaniel said. “After that, those authorities contacted these individuals and warned them … that if they returned, they would face consequences.”

Despite or perhaps because of the behavior of extremists in their country, a significant number of young Libyans have lost interest in Islam. But virtually all of them remain Muslim in name.

Nathaniel said he has yet to meet a native Libyan Christian. This isn’t surprising. There are Christian clergy in Libya who say they’ve never met a native Christian. And if they ever did meet such a Christian, it wouldn’t be in their interest to say so. There is reportedly an understanding with authorities that they won’t get involved in local spiritual matters.

In Libya, the distribution of Christian religious materials to Muslims technically can be punished with the death penalty. But in reality, it usually results in the deportation and banishment of the offenders. However, if the offenders are actual Libyans, then the consequences become more severe — imprisonment, physical abuse, and forced renunciations of faith. As of April 2025, there were 13 incarcerated native Libyan Christians awaiting their day in court. This group includes one Libyan man who, despite several years of imprisonment, has yet to renounce his Christian faith. He received a death sentence in September 2022, but it seems this punishment has yet to take effect.

Though Nathaniel must practice his faith with some discretion, his situation is less precarious than that of a Libyan believer.

“Another religion [than Islam] is definitely not an option for the local population,” he said. “And finding a Bible here is impossible.”

Story by R. Cavanaugh