Offensive Tags Appear on the Church of St. Philipp Neri

Case information
Incident date
Country
Spain
Place
Málaga
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Vandalism (all)
  • Vandalism of Church
Religious Freedom / Discrimination
  • Other (text field)
Place of Incident
  • Church
Bias Indicators
  • Comments/Written Statements/Gestures/Graffiti
Reported to Police
  • Yes
Response of Local Authorities
  • Investigated

In the centre of the city of Malaga. the church of San Felipe Neri, was vandalised on 11. December with offensive tags against the religious institution. These were made with spray paint by unknown vandals and have left the community of faithful very affected. One tag says "Sacrilego tú" (you sacrilegious) was graffitied on a mosaic of Jesus. Another message on the door reads: "Dead paedophiles". It seems that the police was able to identify and arrest the perpetrators.

"We have to live with this. Graffiti is a form of expression, but in this case it is something to be condemned because it is not art, it is destroying heritage". commented Leopoldo Guerrero, former elder brother of the Cofradía de Viñeros.

Source and Photo: El Español