All cases
Smashed Window of Protestant Church
September 5, 2019, GermanyA cobblestone was used to smash a stained-glass window of the Protestant Church of Kusel in Luitpoldstraße on August 5th between 3 and 4 pm. The damage amounts to 1250 euros. The police are investigating and searching for witnesses.
Church Desecrated with Satanic Tags in Giroussens
September 3, 2019, FranceA secluded church in Giroussens was discovered vandalized with blue graffiti including an inverted cross on the front of the altar. Other images found in Notre-Dame-de-Sept-Fages included goat with horns, an inverted pentagram, and the message behind the altar: "Here an army is born." The mayor expressed anger and filed a police complaint
Christian Youth Center Vandalized
September 2, 2019, ItalyOn Sunday morning, the plants were found married and the closets open in the church of St. Fatima. In the kitchen of the Youth Center, food and dishes were thrown on the ground and the pantries were looted and the whole place was left dirty. The police are running an investigation.
Religious Statues Damaged in Marseille
August 30, 2019, FranceA Marseille resident reported to l'Observatoire de la Christianophobie that religious statues in various districts of the city had been damaged over several months. Incidents included: the hands severed from a statue of the Virgin Mary, the crown broken from another statue of the Virgin Mary, and the arms broken off a statue of the infant Jesus.
Arson Causes 100,000 Euros in Damage at Wildeshausen Church
August 30, 2019, GermanyUnknown perpetrators attempted to set fire to parts of the St.-Peter Kirche in Wildeshausen on August 30th at around 3 p.m. They lit hymn books on the stairs to the organ loft with sacrificial candles, but they did not catch fire. The perpetrators then apparently lit a hymn book and the seat cushion of a row of benches with matches and the candle flame. The cushion burned over the entire length of four meters but fortunately, the wooden benches did not catch fire. Damage from the smoke generated by the burning cushion caused extensive damage to the interior of the church and organ.
Church Equipped With Security Cameras Following Desecration
August 28, 2019, ItalyOn the 28th August, the Mayor Massimo Paolini announced the installation of surveillance cameras in the Church of Our Lady of the Arc to control security and prevent vandalism, which has been targeting the church in the past months, including trashing and graffiti with satanic motives.
Finnish Politician Investigated for Hate Crime for Sharing Bible Verse
August 27, 2019, FinlandThe Helsinki Police Department announced it had opened pre-trial investigations into Päivi Räsänen, a Christian Democrat MP, for her criticism of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland's (ELCF) participation in the Helsinki LGBT Pride events in June. She posted a photograph of Romans 1:24-26 from the New Testament on Facebook and wrote "How does the foundation of the church’s teachings, the Bible, fit with elevating sin and shame as reasons for pride?"
Police Investigate Church Arson in Saint-Amand-sur-Sèvre
August 24, 2019, FranceCriminal investigators were brought on the scene after a suspicious fire began in the wooden library of the Saint-Amand church in Saint-Amand-sur-Sèvre on August 24th. The fire was brought under control by the gendarmes of the community of brigades (COB) of Cerizay-Mauléon dispatched to the site. Sixteen firefighters were also present as well as a team from Gérédis who cut off the electrical power to the building.
Youth 'defecates in Spanish church, smears feces on statue, walls'
August 21, 2019, SpainPolice announced on August 21st that an 18-year-old man would be charged with defecating in a shrine to the Virgin Mary and then smearing his feces on a statue of Christ and on the walls of the church, Spanish news agencies report. The incident, caught on CCTV, took place on July 26 at the Santuario de la Virgen de la Fuensanta in the Jaén provincial town of Villanueva del Arzobispo.
Fire Set in Front of Rheine Church
August 21, 2019, GermanyOn August 21, the police were called to the St. Ludgerus-Kirche to investigate a fire. Unknown perpetrators set the newspapers on fire outside a door of the main entrance to the church.
Vandals Ransacked Carnwadric Church Of Scotland
August 20, 2019, United KingdomThe Carnwadric Church, home to the Rainbow Centre and Carnwadric Win Project, in Scotland was ravaged on August 20th. The church door was found burst open on the next morning. The vandals stole cash boxes and laptops, knocked cabinets over, broke windows, tore TV`s off the walls and wrote the letters "AYT" (maybe a mark of a local young team) on the walls.
Surge in Thefts of Chapel Bells in the Var
August 19, 2019, FranceTwo bells classified as Historic Monuments were stolen in early August from chapels in Esparron-de-Pallières and Brue-Auriac, a month after bells stolen from Ginasservis.
''God is Dead'' Sprayed On Church
August 18, 2019, GermanyOn the night of 17. to 18. August, unknown vandals spray-painted St. Peter Catholic Church in Bad Waldsee with the words "God is Dead" with black paint. The property damage amounts to 200 euros. The police are investigating and searching for witnesses.
Convert Deported From Finland Back to Iran, Where He Was Tortured
August 12, 2019, FinlandAn Iranian asylum seeker who converted to Christianity was returned to Iran on the 12th of August, after his asylum was rejected. According to the administrative law, he would be allowed to live a moderate Christian life in Iran. The community made a petition for Sardan to be able to stay in Finland, because of fear of persecution, but still he was deported. According to the Information, after the arrival he was arrested by the police, questioned about his faith and tortured until he renounced his Christian faith and returned to Islam. He refused and many attempt are taking place to get him to Finland.
Vandals Smashed Windows Of Holy Trinity Church
August 11, 2019, United KingdomOn August 11th around 22:00 unknown perpetrators threw two large stones through the windows of the church hall at the Holy Trinity church in Kimberley. The police are investigating and searching for witnesses.
Theft and Desecration at Oise Parish
August 9, 2019, FranceThe church of Saint-Éloi (parish of the Bienheureuses-Carmélites-de-Compiègne, diocese of Compiegne, Oise) was robbed, vandalized, and desecrated between the 3rd and 9th of August. Sound equipment, a ciborium, an aspergillum (a liturgical implement used to sprinkle holy water), holy water font, and other liturgical objects were stolen. The burglars forced open the tabernacle to steal the ciborium and stole consecrated hosts, as well. "The most essential thing for us is that the tabernacle was forced, and that the Blessed Sacrament, the presence of Christ was touched, stolen. Which is for us a desecration. The real presence of Christ has been stolen. It's something strong," said the communications director of the Oise diocese.
Vandalism And Fire In The Church Of Saint-Mathieu
August 7, 2019, FranceUnknown people vandalized the church of Saint-Mathieu in the Pays d`Iroise on August 7th. Burn marks were found on the altar and at a statue of the Virgin Mary, candles were broken, thrown on the floor and into the holy water tank and a rosary was burned. The church is now closed outside of services. The police are investigating and searching for witnesses.
Major Thefts and Damage at Marquette-lez-Lille Cemetery
August 7, 2019, FranceIn Marq-Lambersart on the Weekend of 3rd August, around 225 graves were robbed at the Marquette-Lez-Lille Cemetery. The unknown perpetrators attacked the bronze vases, which were unsealed and stole the bronze crosses from the graves. Also, some graves were damaged.
Suspicious Fire at Virton Rectory
August 5, 2019, BelgiumDuring the night between August 4th and 5th 2019 firefighters from three towns intervened to extinguish a major fire in the annex of the rectory next to the Church Saint-Laurant in the Belgian town of Virton. The fire broke out in the small outbuilding adjoining the rectory, where a pile of wood and old planks were stored. The fire quickly spread to the roof of the left part of the rectory and the wall of an adjacent restaurant. The priest had just enough time to save his car, which was in the garage and was soon engulfed in flames.
Liverpool Church Vandalized
August 4, 2019, United KingdomSix windows were smashed and mysterious graffiti reading "BEAST" was written on the wall of St. Oswald's Roman Catholic Presbytery in Old Swan (Liverpool). Police began an investigation.