On January 9th the Sank Martin Church in Berlin-Schönefeld was hit with a tar bomb that was smeared all over the church. It was not the first criminal incident that the church has faced. Offertory boxes were broken open, the holy water basin was soiled with urine, and candle sticks were stolen.
Asked what hurt the church most after such incidents the Regina Kasper, office manager of the Catholic parish Sankt Matthias in Berlin-Schöneberg, replied: "That's hard to say, because we experience all forms of vandalism. It ranges from broken-off sacrificial sticks to urine in a holy water basin to stealing candlesticks - there is everything. I think what hurts us most is that we can no longer open our churches. We must keep them closed, and if we open them, we must guard the churches.
Otherwise we will be exposed to the normal vandalism that we know from Berlin. I think the churchgoers are now accepting this with a certain rage and consternation. On top of that there is the annoyance that we could use our money for something better than repairing damages caused by New Year's Eve, broken windows or similar things."
Kasper was also asked if the police investigations are usually successful and she stated: "Rarely. The police are very busy. And when it comes to churches here in Berlin, the State Security is always called in. The reports are taken up quickly, so that we can then also rapidly repair the damage, because the police are there promptly. However, successes in investigations are very rare - most of the time, they amount to nothing and the investigations end."