(1996 - 2005) Legal developments put religious freedom at risk. Christian groups listed as dangerous sects. State power to interfere with religious exercise established by law.
The Bishop of Chester was investigated by the Cheshire constabulary in November 2003 after he told his local newspaper of research showing that some homosexuals re-orientated to heterosexuality. The police passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service who decided not to prosecute.
Pastor Ake Green charged with committing a "hate crime" for preaching a sermon on homosexuality in Borghold.
Image of Catholic nun used for pro condom campaign in Toulouse.
The Sefton (North West of England) Council workers, Norah Ellis and Dawn Jackson, refused to take part in adoptions for gay parents as not compatible with the Christian concept of family. As a consequence they have been threatened with dismissal for not doing their job.
Visitors are shocked by christianophobic exhibit in Andrei Sakharov Museum in Moscow as it shows Jesus and Mary in humiliating positions. Intention of organizers described as exposing hypocrisy of religion.
(2000-2003) Christian minority rights are at stake in Kosovo. Churches were attacked and destroyed. The denial of Jesus was demanded from youth at gunpoint.
New law prohibits criticism of homosexuality and makes biblical applications to today a criminal offence.
A highly respected comprehensive school head teacher, Bill Beales, faced calls for his suspension after he told pupils that Christians were being “placed on trial” for defending their beliefs on marriage.
(October 2001-April 2002) Evangelical preacher arrested and fined for displaying a sign in public saying ‘Stop Immorality’.
In the night of June 6th, 2000 in the Italian town of Chiavenna in the Lombardy, Sister Maria Laura Mainetti was murdered by three teenage girls in a ritual act of satanism.
Father Giorgio Govoni, 59, pastor of Staggia di San Prospero Church in the province of Modena, Italy, was accused of being a member of a group of pedophiles who engaged in sexually violent and harmful acts with minors, including participation in satanic rites in the Massa Finalese Cemetery. He was cleared after his death by the court of second instance.
Jesmond Parish Church in Newcastle upon Tyne was covered with obscene phrases and pornographic graffiti after Rev. Holloway preached about homosexuality in the teachings of the Bible. The graffiti included drawings of men having sex, and insulting expressions such as "Holloway Out", "Bigot" and "Down with Holloway".
Pastor jailed for calling an abortion specialist “professional killer” and “torturer” in Erlangen.
A politician was fined in the first instance for hate speech in criticizing homosexuality. Even though the court of second instance lifted the sentence, the hypersensitivity of the first court is a worrying sign.
(1995/1996) Several instances have been collected in which staff were denied the right to conscientious objection and lost their jobs.
The Monastery of the Prophet Elias of Maronite Monks, situated near the village of Ayia Marina Skyllouras, in the Nicosia district in Cyprus, was bombed during the second phase of the Turkish invasion. The Turkish air force savagely attacked the religious building which caught fire and was badly damaged.
Ayios Procopios, a Byzantine church of the 11th or 12th century situated in the village of Synkrasi, in the Famagusta district, in the Republic of Cyprus, was desecrated after the military had occupied the region by force. The iconostasis was destroyed and the portable icons were stolen. The church is today a refuge for birds.
Antifonitis Monastery, a Byzantine monastery, built at the end of the 12th century, was destroyed as a consequence of the Turkish invasion. The heads of the two Archangels in the apse of the church were ruined. Turkish illicit dealers in antiquities cut into pieces and removed from the walls the representations of the Day of Judgment and the Stem of Jesse, vandalising a large part of them.
Members of the clergy were advised to take off their Roman collars when they are on their own, to reduce the risk of being attacked. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury should remove the collar outside church.