On January 15th, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the four UK Freedom of Religion cases: one was ruled in favour and three against. The decision of the Court is not yet final and can be appealed to the Grand Chamber of the Court.
In Rödermark (Hessen) and the district of Offenbach Protestant churches were targeted by vandals. Altar clothes, bibles and other things were stolen. Due to these incidents, the targeted churches remain closed during the night.
In Duren (NRW) the St. Cyriac Church was completely defiled and the tabernacle desecrated. The damage was so grave that the church was pronounced unfit for service.
When Pope Benedict XVI gave his weekly Sunday address on January 13, 2013, on St. Peter's Square, four women of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen took off their shirts to reveal the slogan they had written on their bare skin, "In Gay We Trust". This took place while the pope lead the Angelus prayer. The women screamed "Homophobes shut up" as they were taken away from St Peter's square by the Italian police.
In the January edition of the Diocesan newspaper, the Bishop of Trieste had published an article restating the Church’s teaching on homosexual unions. Because of this, on the 12th of January about two hundred homosexual activist demonstrated in front of his home effectively barricading him in for the afternoon.
Instead of tackling the enormous number of anti-Christian vandalisms, President Hollande announced 'the National Observatory of Secularism' to come into being this year, tasked with closely monitoring religious organisations for any potential 'excesses'. French Interior Minister Manuel Valls highlighted various Catholic organisations, stating that "All excesses are being minutely registered in case we have to consider dissolving it."
Tens of thousands petitioned Jose Carrillo, the rector of Complutense University asking that the agreement with the Archdiocese of Madrid be adhered to and that the closing of university chapels be stopped. According to a spokesman for the religious-liberty organization MasLibres, Miguel Vidal, the “rector has argued that the university is not trying to shut down chapels, but to revise its agreement with the archdiocese.”
Ms Karolina Vidović-Krišto, a well-respected journalist with HRT/HTV, was the editor and host of a popular program “Slika Hrvatske”, produced specifically for Croatians living overseas. She was suspended after editing and hosting a show which criticised the government's sex ed programme on December 29, 2012.
The Recommendation by the Minister of Science, Education and Sports, Mr. Ž. Jovanović, on conducting religious instruction in elementary schools during the first and last hours of the day (as of April 3, 2012), is still in force. This Recommendation discriminates against the regular nature of religious instruction which was agreed upon in international contracts.
On the 31st of December 2012, a naked man was caught chanting: „Sex in Schools!“ in the Cathedral of Zagreb, Croatia. This was reported by the Apostolic Nunciature in Croatia.
Numerous cases of vandalism against churches and church buildings took place in Austria in 2012. Find here a non-exhaustive list of recorded incidents.
Numerous cases of burglary of churches and church buildings took place in Austria in 2012. Find here a non-exhaustive list of recorded incidents.
The Holy See reported numerous hate crimes against Christians in Germany in 2012 to OSCE/ODIHR. View the locations and dates here.
The Holy See reported numerous hate crimes against Christians in Hungary in 2012 to OSCE/ODIHR. View the locations and dates here.
The Holy See reported numerous hate crimes against Christians in Italy in 2012 to OSCE/ODIHR. View the locations and dates here.
A new ruling by a High Court judge says that Christians have no right to decline working on Sunday as it is not a “core component” of their beliefs, considering that „many Christians work on Sundays".
During Christmas holidays 2012, Austrialian born Richard Parncutt, professor for music sciences at the Karl-Franzens-Universität in Graz, issued the official University website to call for death penalty for the pope as a punishment for opposing artifical birth control and condoms. The university deleted the comments and summoned Prof. Parncutt to a disciplinary meeting: “Safeguarding human rights belong to the most important principles of the University of Graz.” The professor apologized.
In 2012 the Holy See reported attacks against places of worship in the following places of Germany: • 19 May 2012 Bürstadt (Idstein) • 19 May 2012 Bispingen (Walsrode) • 23 May 2012 Petersberg (Osthessen) • 26 June 2012 Flensburg • 23 June 2012 Bergtheide. (Lübeck) • 23 June 2012 Bad Herrenalb • 17 June 2012 Krefeld • 12 June 2012 Haltingen. (Weil am Rhein) • July 2012 Münster-Gremmendorf (Westfalen) • 31 July 2012 Engelsdorf (Sachsen) • 17 July 2012 Meiningen • 14 July 2012 Euskirchen • 6 July 2012 Eckernförde • 16 August 2012 Bötzingen (Freiburg) • 28 August 2012 Cochem (Mosel) • 30 August 2012 Altkreis Norden (Aurich) • 4 September 2012 Hirschhorn (Odenwald) • 7 September 2012 Ihringen (Breisach) • 7 September 2012 Bad Langensalza (Thüringen). • 7 September 2012 Aurich (Niedersachsen) • 9 September 2012 Mirskofen (Landshut) • 10 September 2012 Weimar-Niederweimar • 18 September 2012 Cochem (Mosel) • 21 September 2012 Neuhausen (Pforzheim) • 15 October 2012 Leidingen (Saarland) • 4 November 2012 Ahlbeck (Vorpommern) • 5 November 2012 Bielefeld • 5 November 2012 Schöntal (Heilbronn) • 10 November 2012 Lübeck • 11 November 2012 Brandenburg (Havel) • 13 November 2012 Schmalegg (Ravensburg) • 15 November 2012 Märkische Heide • 17 November 2012 Thüringen • 21 November 2012 Groß Leuthen (Lausitz) • 27 November 2012 Mainz. • 27 November 2012 Daaden (Siegen) • 29 November 2012 Gotha • 4 December 2012 München • 15 December 2012 Drensteinfurt (NRW)
In 2012 the Holy See reported damaged to property in the following places in Hungary: 10 January 2012 Pécs 27 January 2012 Mezőfalva 04 March 2012 Pécs, Rácváros 22 March 2012 Pécs 08 April 2012 Pécs 27 June 2012 Pécs, Parrochia San Francesco 04 September 2012 Piliscsaba Klotildliget 08 December 2012 Sárbogárd 16 December 2012 Németkér 20 December 2012 Újpetre 23 December 2012 Simontornya
The Holy See reported damage to property in the following places in 2012: 12 February 2012 Terrasini (diocesi di Monreale) 22 February 2012 in provincia di Trento 02 March 2012 Cinisi (diocesi di Monreale) 31 May 2012 nel quartiere di La Gogna, fra 10 August 2012 Trinitapoli in Puglia 19 November 2012 di Milazzo (Messina) 22 December 2012 Termoli 23 December 2012 Villagrazia di Carini (Monreale)