On December 19th, the Anti-Fascist Brigades (BAF) claimed responsibility for the theft of a baby Jesus from the Plaza Mayor in Castellón. They posted on Facebook that they demand the release of Catalan politicians who are in prison to return the figure. In the place of the Statuette, they left a yellow ribbon, which is the symbol of the Catalan political leaders.
On December 18th, a judge in an employment tribunal ruled against Maya Forstater, a tax expert at the Centre for Global Development, who defended her right to say on social media that men cannot become ‘women’ by undergoing gender reassignment treatment. Employment Judge Taylor ruled that her belief that biological sex cannot be changed “did not have the protected characteristic of a philosophical belief.” She had tweeted that “men cannot change into women” as part of an argument about the government’s proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act. This was not deemed a "protected belief" under the Equality Act 2010.
During the night from the 17th to 18th of December, the crèche installed on Place Charles-de-Gaulle and Christmas decorations at the town hall were destroyed. The heads of the life-sized figures representing Mary, Joseph and two wise men were cut off, and arms torn off. Garlands and fir trees in front of the town hall were damaged or stolen. “We are still in a Judeo-Christian country," said the mayor, "we can believe it or not, it remains deplorable to attack a crèche and decorations. We do that for the children... they were shocked this morning seeing all this damage."
The 2019 edition of the living crèche in Toulouse had to be shortened after the intervention of counter-demonstrators in front of frightened children. Around fifty far-left demonstrators whistled at the choir, chanted blasphemous songs, and insulted participants before coming to blows with some, arguing "that this event was illegal in a secular state."
An obscene and insulting poster was discovered on display outside Rome’s Museum of Modern Art. Titled “ECCE HOMO ERECTUS,” the poster portrays Jesus as a pedophile.
In Saint-Just-en-Bas (Loire), 300 m² of the roof of the local church went up in flames on Sunday, December 15, during the morning Mass. An official of the commune sounded the alert when he saw an unusual smoke coming from the nave. The church was evacuated and no casualties were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
On December 14th, unknown vandals beheaded the statue of St. Joseph, placed the ox and the donkey figures in an obscene position, and threw litter inside the small nativity scene installed by municipal volunteers in Angolo Terme .
Video surveillance captured the images of two sets of vandals attacking the nativity scene installed in the Lecce Piazza Duomo during the early morning hours (1:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m.) of December 12th.
A few weeks after four churches around Munich were painted with leftist slogans, the Salesianum, a Catholic youth center run by the religious community of Don Bosco, was vandalized with swastikas, SS runes, and "Widerstand Süd," a neo-Nazi network. According to reports, the location was likely not chosen by chance, because the Salesianum also looks after underage refugees.
The windows of St. Peter's Church in Hüsten in Germany were damaged by vandals who were caught throwing stones. After witnesses heard the sound of stones hitting the church, police patrol cars caught the perpetrators. An investigation continues
In the name of secularism, the director of the Gustave Ansart school group, a public establishment in the commune of Thiant, Academy of Lille, refused to permit a visit from Saint Nicholas inside the school. This departs from a well-established tradition and one eagerly awaited by school children.
The outer walls of the parish of Sant'Agostino in Bisceglie were vandalized with spray-painted graffiti during the night between the 8th and 9th of December. According to the parish priest, this is not the first time he has had to go to the police to file a complaint. "I have been asking for help to find a solution for 5 years," he explained.
Europa Laica wrote to demand "the denunciation and repeal of the 1979 Agreements with the Holy See, and those of 1992 with other confessions", as well as the "priority of public and secular schools, free of religious indoctrination or of any kind, as a way of overcoming the inequality generated by an educational system in concert with the Catholic school financed by the public treasury." Additionally, the group demands the abolishment of the economic and fiscal privileges enjoyed by the Catholic Church, as well as the promulgation of a "Freedom of Conscience" law.
A line of Christmas cards produced by British card company 'Love Layla' caused controversy for including messages mocking some of the deeply held beliefs of the Christian faith. The cards included taglines which call into question the Virgin Mary's miraculous conception, and which refer to Jesus as "a bloke that wore socks with sandals." Speaking to the Daily Mirror, James Mildred, for Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) said, "A lot of Christians will be deeply offended by this sort of thing...It highlights a fundamental hypocrisy that Christianity is seen as fair game to mock, disparage and insult."
Unidentified vandals looted some tombstones and graves, in the Cemetery of Salerno. They stole flower boxes, frames, and metal writings on the tombs. It was not the first time the cemetery was the target of vandalism, for which the institutions in charge demand more control of the premises.
During the night of December 7th (the night before they were to be displayed), unknown vandals damaged the nativity figures in Palau. The town's inhabitants, along with the artist Mario Spano, known as Marieddu, who spent months making them by hand, were dismayed by the act.
Police suspect leftist activists were responsible for the vandalism of four Munich-area churches that left parishioners outraged and dismayed. Slogans such as "Burn the churches down" and "Neither God nor master - destroy the patriarchy" were painted on the entrances of the churches resulting in thousands of euros in damage.
Crucifixes and a fountain from a chapel in Alpbach. A gilded statue of the Virgin Mary from the parish church in Kufstein. A baroque monstrance from a church in Pfaffstätten, host bowls in Biedermannsdorf -- these are just a few examples of sacred art objects that were stolen from Austrian churches in 2019.
A drunk man was arrested by Lyon police for setting fire to a garbage can placed against the door of the Saint-Georges church. The fire caused extensive to the door and smoke damage inside the church.
During the night, the small temple, the known as Our Lady of Carmen girl in Almeria, has dawned looted and partially destroyed. The carving of Jesus as a child was stolen, the picture was damaged, and the pedestal had breaks.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution which calls "for an end to violations against the freedom of Christians and other religious minorities to worship."
A Christian pastor and school caretaker, who received abuse and threats for a June 2019 tweet about LGBTQ Pride has taken legal action against the school which he felt forced to leave. His case was heard on Court on January 2022.
The car owned by the parish priest of Basilica di Maria SS di Monserrato in Vallelonga was destroyed in an arson attack on December 2nd while it was parked near the church. Press reports described the incident as "intimidation" of the priest and shocking to locals. The priest discovered the fire and contacted the fire brigade and police from the Compagnia Serra San Bruno began an arson investigation.
On November 30th 2019, unknown perpetrators sprayed two swastikas around the entrance doors of the Sankt-Nicolai-Kirche in Magdeburg. A police spokesman said the symbols were illegal and would be immediately painted over. Police continued to investigate the case, but state security services were likely to take over the investigation.
During an interpellation debate in the parliament on November 29th, Justice Minister Morgan Johansson was asked by MP Hans Eklind about an asylum case in which a person who converted from Islam was interviewed by a Muslim officer in veil at the Migration Board. The officer subsequently denied the claim, finding his conversion to be false. Johansson was asked how the government ensures that the Swedish Migration Board fulfills its obligations to legal quality and uniform application of the law where religious views are invoked.
Roar Fløttum was preaching and praying for the sick on a Trondheim street on November 27th when he interacted with four Muslim men. According to Fløttum, the men asked him to come with them to pray for a friend. He agreed and when they got him to a backyard, they pushed him down a cellar staircase, beat him, robbed him, and threatened to kill him if he did not convert to Islam. Police, who have called this a very serious incident, are reviewing street camera footage to identify the perpetrators.
On November 27th the anarchist acronym "ACAB", which stands for All Cops Are Bastards (all cops are bastards) was sprayed on the wall of the Saint Pierre Church in Mordelles. The tag measured 3 by 1 meters and was erased by the municipal services of the commune of Mordelles.
School leadership at a Wil elementary school in the Swiss Canton of St. Gallen made the decision to remove the three Advent/Christmas songs from the program of its year-end show, out of "respect for other cultures and religions." Teachers were reportedly "astonished" at the decision and the President of the Coordination of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland, encouraged schools not to change their traditions: "From our point of view, it is very regrettable when Christian songs are no longer sung in a Christian country," he said.
A High Court judge ruled in favor of an exclusion zone around a school in Birmingham permanent, preventing parents from protesting outside the grounds against the "No Outsiders" primary school programme that teaches about LGBT relationships. Many parents and activists claim the programme contradicts their faith and is not "age appropriate." A temporary exclusion zone was first imposed by the courts in the summer after months of protests outside Anderton Park Primary School by mostly Muslim parents. Birmingham City Council claimed that the order was sought from the courts over safety concerns.
The Christkind (Christ child) figure was stolen twice in three days from the Christkindlmarkt (Christmas market) on Enkplatz in Vienna. The original figure was replaced after the first theft. The replacement was then stolen. Now it has been replaced, at least temporarily, with a wooden stake with a woolen cap on top. Locals expressed outrage at the thefts and the priest of the adjacent church offered to receive the figure "discreetly" from anyone who wished to return it.
On the 26th of November, the Baby Jesus of the Nativity Scene was reported to be stolen twice. The leader of the 11th District, Paul Stadler, promised to restore a Statue before Christmas. There was no trace of the stolen figures. The Father from the neighbouring parish offered the thieves to give back the statues anonymously in front of the church and to confess if they are interested.
Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine Church and Saint-Sauveur Basilica in Rennes were burglarized during the night of November 24th to 25th by unknown thieves. The doors were pried open with crow bars and offertory trunks were broken. The parish priest of Notre-Dame called the incident "ugly and hurtful."
The Grotto of Notre-Dame de Lourdes of l'église Saint-Pierre ("Dompeter") in Avolsheim (Bas-Rhin) was found sprayed with the contents of one or more fire extinguishers. Nestled in the middle of the fields, the isolated site is known by many Alsatians as the church is the oldest in Alsace and is on the Pilgram's Way of Saint-Jacques-de-Compostela (Camino de Santiago). In the field adjoining the grotto, large tracks of a vehicle were noted. The police began an investigation.
On November 23rd, unknown perpetrators stole sacred objects from the church of Lachau, in the South-Drôme. A chalice, two vases and a ciborium were stolen, according to the observations made by the gendarmes of the Buis-les-Baronnies. The police is investigating.
Graffiti reading "Death to the Clerofascists" (Smrt klerofašistom) was painted on the outside of the Church of St. Mary, Mother of the Church in late October; and on the St. Barbara Chapel on Calvary, Maribor Hill and on the Catholic High School in Maribor in November by unknown vandals. Police opened an investigation.
On the afternoon of November 21st, two men broke a door and entered the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in the Tarbes city center to commit serious vandalism. The unidentified vandals tore up and burned Mass books and then soiled them with human excrement; at least one of them urinated against a wall. A statue of St. John the Baptist was thrown at the pews, a crucifix was toppled and thrown to the ground, and a fire extinguisher was emptied in the church. The organ was opened and microphone wires were torn out. The perpetrators fled when a parishioner entered to pray.
An atheist couple who launched a High Court challenge because they feel their children are being religiously "indoctrinated" during assemblies have won their judicial review claim. The Burford primary school in the Cotswolds in Oxfordshire is one of 33 schools of the Church of England's Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust (ODST). Although parents were already entitled to withdraw their children from assemblies, even in church-run schools, The Harrises have argued that the school must provide an "inclusive assembly as a meaningful alternative for pupils withdrawn from Christian worship," rather than simply supervision of the children.
In October 2018, an elderly nun applied for a place in a retirement home in Vesoul, run by the city's Centre Communal d'Action Sociale (CCAS) in her home prefecture of Haute-Saone. After nine months on the waiting list, on July 2019, her request for housing was accepted, but with one condition: "With due respect for secularism, any ostentatious sign of belonging to a religious community cannot be accepted in order to ensure the serenity of all. Indeed, religion is a private affair and must remain so." The nun was told she could only wear a discreet cross. Having worn her religious habit all of her adult life, she refused to comply and was thus denied a place.
On November 18th, five young people were arrested for vandalism at the church Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais. Vandalism included urinating in confessionals and holy water stoups, tearing up a book, and attempting to set fire to the altar cloth.
On the afternoon of November 16th, an unidentified man entered the Trasfigurazione del Signor church in Scorrano while it was empty and stole money from the donation box and a golden necklace from around the neck of a statue of the Virgin Mary. Before leaving the church, he urinated on the altar underneath the crucifix. The incident was captured on video and police are investigating the identity of the individual.
A visitor to the St. Katharina Kirche in Buschhoven discovered that a fire had been set in the church during the early afternoon of November 16th. Local media reports that books and booklets were placed on top of the lit candlesticks in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary, revered by Christians and pilgrims as the "Rosa Mystica." The books caught fire and the church was enveloped in a huge mass of smoke and soot before the fire brigade was able to extinguish the blaze. Earlier in the week, a fire had been set in the same church using the candles but was extinguished before major damage occurred.
The Protestant Versöhnungskirche in Buschhoven was the target of vandalism twice in the same week, with its hymnals and booklets scattered, seat cushions thrown on the floor, candles pushed off the altar, and a small fire lit on a doormat. These incidents coincided with fires having been set at the nearby St. Katharina Kirche.
On morning of November 14th, the hermitage of the Holy Sepulcher in Tauste (Zaragoza) was discovered vandalized and the life-sized statue of the Nazarene Christ burnt. The custodian of the hermitage, Juan Francés, found the remains of a fire when he opened the hermitage and found "everything lying on the ground and on fire.” The city council of Tauste condemned the attack on the hermitage “It was an attack on a religious and cultural symbol of our people. It is not a simple act of vandalism.”
A Catholic Liberal Democrat who was the prospective candidate for Stoke-on-Trent South in the upcoming election was abruptly deselected on the basis that his "values" were not in line with the party. Thirty-six hours after Robert Flello was chosen as the Lib Dem candidate, the party announced in a press release that his candidacy had been revoked. The former Labour MP's views on abortion and marriage were not a secret, as he had been a member of parliament for 12 years.
The City Council of Segovia has condemned the graffiti on the ruins of the old temple of San Agustin, from the sixteenth century. The group Yesca Segovia, which with several photographs and a video on their Facebook and Twitter profiles claims the attack.
In the Cathedral of Saint-Luperc in the community of Eauze, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was intentionally set on fire on November 12th. The mayor suspects the crime was committed by satanists. The statue had been vandalized and stolen before. The police was informed.
The exterior wall of the Madrid parish of Santa Catalina de Alejandría was painted with images and symbols including "Death", an inverted cross, and "666."
The church of Saint-Etienne in Tonnay-Charente was desecrated on November 11th. According to the Bishopric of La Rochelle, the cross of Christ was overturned, the tabernacle was broken, the hosts were scattered on the ground, the lunula containing a host for worship was stolen. The Bishop denounced "the deliberate desire to undermine the integrity of the consecrated hosts."
Intruders broke into the Star of the Sea Carmelite Nuns monastery in Malahide in the early afternoon of November 11th and verbally abused the elderly resident sisters, sprayed and smeared the walls of convent's chapel with graffiti.
11-12 November 2019. Church Warden left "in tears" after rocks damaged historic details of multiple windows at St Thomas' Church, Worcester.
Over the weekend of November 9-10, unidentified vandals broke windows and set the Agia Trapeza (altar) on fire, burning sacred items, in the Agios Haralambos Church. According to reports, this was the third church vandalized in Chalkios on the island of Chios within a week. In the Church of Panagia, a window was smashed and oil and candles were stolen and a fire was set in the Church of Agios Petros and Pavlos.
Just before an evening Mass on November 9th, unidentified vandals entered the Tonnay-Charente church and tore open the tabernacle of the altar of the Virgin Mary, breaking the doors. The consecrated hosts in the ciborium were thrown to the ground and the glass container holding a host consecrated for adoration was stolen. In addition, crosses were reversed and chairs and statues were broken, including one depicting St. Joseph holding the baby Jesus, which was decapitated by the perpetrators. The Bishop said, this was "desecration, not burglary."
Unknown perpetrators set fire to an altar in the church of Sant Joan in Lleida (Lérida) on November 7th. The rector, Joan Ramon Ezquerra, reported that a day earlier, three bouquets around the church had also been set on fire. Mass could not be celebrated in the central nave and had to be moved to the chapel.
On November 4th, the Finnish State General Prosecutor issued a press release announcing the launch of a pre-trial investigation into the publication and distribution of the 2004 pamphlet "Mieheksi ja naiseksi hän heidät loi" (in English, “Male and female He created them”), authored by Päivi Räsänen, the Finnish politician investigated by the police for a tweet in June 2019 quoting the Bible on the issue of homosexuality. Although the pamphlet was printed 15 years ago, it will be included in the case against the Christian politician because it is still “available online.” Räsänen, who served in the past as Minister of the Interior of the government of Finland, risks being accused under Section 10 of the Criminal Code of Finland for “ethnic agitation,” a crime punishable with a fine or prison.
Victory in international court bolsters protections for Christians who face life-threatening persecution in home countries.
A car fitted with a battering ram was driven into the door of the Cathedral Sainte-Marie d'Oloron in southwestern France on November 4th. Once inside the cathedral, thieves entered the chapel and sawed the iron bars protecting sacred and liturgical items. They stole chalices, ciboria, a centuries old nativity scene, and vestments used by the priest for the Mass. Authorities characterized the theft as organized and well-planned.
A chapel was vandalized on Sunday, November 3 in Oberhaslach near Molsheim. A statue of St. Bernadette in the chapel of the hermitage of St. Florent was beheaded and moved. The gendarmes are calling for witnesses.
On November 1st, unknown perpetrators vandalised the Saint-Vaast church in Béthune. The Vandals knocked over chairs and inflated condoms. The city will file a complaint and the police are investigating.
On the eve of All Saints the bell of an old chapel located on the Saint-Yvon side, in Warneton, was stolen. Because of its historical value it was currently on display in the choir of the Sint-Jan church, in Ypres. The stolen bronze bell dates from 1728 and weighs 25 kilos.
Just before All Saints' Day, about 100 graves were damaged or destroyed in the Breuil cemetery of Cognac. Christian symbols including crucifixes, crosses, and statues of the Virgin Mary and angels were targeted. An 18-year-old self-described Satanist who "hates all religions, especially Catholicism," was arrested by the police. The timing of the incident, given its close proximity to the feast of All Saints and All Souls, shocked local residents.
St. Stephen Church in Zamora has been once again vandalized. Unknown vandals sprayed graffiti and signatures on the church walls. A few weeks ago, a small fire from burning papers was also set next to the wooden door of the church.
The News Site "20 Minutes" included the picture of a Christian gathering to illustrate a survey on the feelings of French women towards the "threat against secularism", published in "Le Journal du Dimanche" on 26 October. The survey showed a majority of people in favor of banning street prayers together with a photograph showing a gathering of Christians, subtitled "Those polled are particularly opposed to prayers in the street". In reality, the survey was conducted to explore the issues of secularity with Islam in France.
More than 40 graves were vandalized in the cemetery of the Our Lady Mother of the Church (Maryi Panny Matki Kościoła) parish of Zabrzu-Helence during the night between October 26 and 27, just days before Catholics observe All Saints' and All Souls' Days. Granite tombstones were torn down and broken, and wooden crosses were destroyed by unknown vandals.
The police arrested three young persons on October 21st. They had stolen candles and vandalized the church of Notre-Dame de Montferrand. The entrance door was broken and other objects inside were also damaged. The three perpetrators tried to flee but were caught by police officers.
The Spanish Observatory of Religious Freedom reported that "Satan Vive" was discovered written on the door of the church of San Juan Bautista de Gracia in Barcelona in October 2019
The parish priest of the Basilica of San Giovanni Maggiore in Naples has condemned the fire set in the church's musician's chapel, known as the Ecce Homo. The fire had spread to the altar when firefighters were able to extinguish it.
Police reported that at 3:30 p.m. on October 10th, a fire was found in the the Evangelical Free Church (Christuskirche) in Witzenhausen. Police officers discovered that several sheets of paper were lit in the area of a stairway directly in front of a wooden shelf, with an oily liquid used as an accelerant. The ignited papers went out without spreading and there was only minor damage to property.
Vandals set off firecrackers inside the church of the Madonna della Neve, also known as Madonna della Tosse.
Radical feminists claimed responsibility for breaking into the Pro Femina crisis pregnancy center in Berlin during the night of October 5-6. They smashed the windows on the third floor, smeared a hallway with paint and butyric acid (a foul smelling chemical) and the slogan "Pro Choice!", and glued closed the locks.
Tens of thousands of French protestors took to the streets of Paris on October 6th to protest the draft bioethics law which passed the lower house of parliament on September 25th. The bill would, amongst other provisions, allow all women under 43 the right to "medically assisted procreation," including in-vitro fertilization (IVF), regardless of their relationship status, or sexual orientation. Currently, French law only allows access to IVF to heterosexual couples unable to have children through natural means, who are either married, or who have lived together for two years.
Before dawn on October 5th, one or more intruders entered the 18th century Chapel of La Rosa in the Córdoba provincial town of Montilla through a side door. Once inside, they found the keys to the tabernacle, opened the pyx inside and scattered several hosts on the altar, according to the Rev. José Félix García, pastor of the parish of Santiago, to which the chapel belongs. Police opened an investigation.
On Saturday morning, one or more individuals entered the Chapel of the Rose in Montilla and desecrated it by spreading the sacred hosts on top of the altar. The case was reported to the police as a crime against religious feelings. The perpetrators entered through a side door, without needing to use the force, then they took the key of the tabernacle and spread the hosts from the ciborium.
An Iranian Christian woman living in the state of Hesse in Germany fears for her life if she is forced to return to Iran, due to strict anti-conversion laws. The woman known as "Mahsa" fled Iran and traveled to Germany in 2015, after an attempted arrest by the religious police for her conversion to Christianity. A recent decision by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) denying her asylum limits Mahsa's options going forward.
Dr David Mackereth has been an A&E doctor for more than 25 years. The Christian lost his job at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for refusing to identify his clients by their chosen gender instead of their biological sex. He stated that the usage of 'transgender pronouns' would go against his conscience as both, a doctor and a Bible-believing Christian. Supported by the legal team of Christian Concern, he took his case to court.
A Christian doctor has lost an employment tribunal case, where he alleged that the Department of Work and Pensions breached his freedom of thought, conscience and religion pursuant to the Equality Act. Disability assessor, Dr. David Mackereth claimed discrimination on part of the Department of Work and Pensions for failing to accommodate his refusal to use pronouns which did not correspond with the biological sex of clients. In its decision, the panel stated that Dr. Mackereth's belief that "the Bible teaches us that God made humans male or female" was "incompatible with human dignity."
Northern Ireland Minister received correspondence from more than 700 medical practitioners calling for conscience protections which would allow Christians and conscientious objectors within the profession the statutory right to refuse to participate in abortions.
On 27. September, the Church of San Miguel de Fuencarral was found spray-painted with anti-Catholic graffiti. In red paint the vandals wrote "Murderers", "Nazis", "Blood Stained", "Fascists" and threatened of burning the church. The police was notified.
The crucifix monument on the grounds of the Saint-Patrice church in the Croix-Rouge district of Marseille, was found vandalized with red paint on September 26th. It was the fifth time since the middle of May 2019 that the Christ figure had been defaced with red or blue paint. Public employees removed the paint and Marseille public officials denounced the vandalism.
The Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU) rejected the request of the Assyrian Cultural Association Saarlouis allow about 400 Syrian Christians from the conflict-torn region of Northern Syria on the Khabur River to enter Saarland. Despite offers of respite and assistance from the existing Assyrian community in the German federal state, the government said it would only admit five refugees.
The trial of a 26-year-old Afghan who was charged with committing serious bodily injury against a Christian convert at the Rottacher Traglufthalle asylum accommodation in 2016 began on September 24th.
After surviving a 2014 car accident which resulted in tetraplegic paralysis and blindness, Italian disc Jockey Fabiano Antoniani (DJ Fabo) traveled to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to end his life. The subsequent ruling of the Italian Constitutional Court over proceedings made against his accomplice now opens the door for the legalization of assisted suicide in Italy.
The Convent of San Juan de Dios de Olivenza was vandalized for the second time in a few days. At the end of August, it suffered a paint attack and on September 20th, it was set on fire. An investigation was opened to try to find out who or who is behind this vandalism.
Over the last few months, a church in Abertridwr, Wales endured repeated acts of vandalism, resulting in fears that it will have to close to public visits during the week. Damage included a stolen collection box, a damaged and defaced historic visitors book, in use since the 1940s, a flagstone outside the church was removed, and fire extinguishers were sprayed inside the church, causing both damage and financial burden.
Police in Olecko investigated acts of vandalism against the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland (kościele Najświętszej Maryi Panny Królowej Polski) where anti-religious phrases such as "Catholicism Deceives" and "Lead us not" (referring to part of the Lord's Prayer) were painted in black on the wall.
The approved rally "March for Life" in Zurich on the afternoon of September 14th was disrupted by an unauthorized counter-demonstration. More than a thousand peaceful participants in the March for Life gathered on the Turbinenplatz to begin the march on an approved route in the city. At the same time, several hundred people -- called by some press reports a Red-Green alliance -- some with prams containing objects to be thrown (including stones and bottles), convened on the Josefswiese to start an unauthorized counter-demonstration parade. As they attempted to stop the counter-demo and prevent a clash with the March for Life, police were attacked with objects, including bottles and stones. Dumpsters were set on fire, a police vehicle was demolished, and firefighters were hindered by the protesters. In response, the police used a water cannon, rubber bullets, and tear gas to deter the protesters. Due to the violence, the police stopped the March for Life temporarily and ultimately shortened the route to prevent an encounter with the counter-demonstrators, some of whom were masked.
The City Hall Cross in the Plaza de San Francisco in Seville, was partially destroyed by a woman who broke the horizontal portions of the cross and fled. The city government denounced the act.
For the fourth time since May 2019, the crucifix monument on the grounds of the Saint-Patrice church in hte Croix-Rouge district of Marseille was vandalized on September 9th. As in previous incidents, the Christ figure was defaced with paint. In this instance the vandals used red paint to cover parts of the head and body.
A 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.
A 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
On 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.
A 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.
Unknown 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.
On 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.
The 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?"
Criminal 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.
Police 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.
On 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.
The 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.
Two 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.
On 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.