Arson in Vienna Church; Tourist Extinguished Fire with Holy Water

Case information
Incident date
Country
Austria
Place
Vienna
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Arson
  • Vandalism of Church
Place of Incident
  • Church
Bias Indicators
  • Significance of Property/Structure/Location to religious community
  • Time/Place/Location
Reported to Police
  • Yes
Response of Local Authorities
  • Investigated
Image credit: SchiDD, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

A tourist discovered that fires had been set in confessionals in the Dominican church of St. Rotunda during the afternoon of June 12th and extinguished them with holy water. This incident was announced on June 19th, the same day as a series of arson attacks in Graz, including at the city hall, courthouse, district administration building, and the main station. A 45-year-old Iraqi was arrested by police after the fire at the station.

The Prior of the Dominicans in Vienna said he was shocked, but at the same time glad that nothing worse happened. Due to security concerns, the church will be be closed outside of church services.

Sources: Die Presse, Die Presse, and ORF

Sources