In its “Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe Report 2024” OIDAC Europe identified 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes which were documented by police and civil society in 35 European countries in 2023, including 232 personal attacks on Christians, such as harassment, threats and physical violence.
Two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of causing more than £15,000 of damage to the Grade II listed St Margaret's Church in Bowers Gifford on 24 November. It was the second time in a month that the church had been vandalised.
Unknown persons threw several burning strips of paper into the basement of the Walldorf church.
A statue of Mary outside the local cemetery in Pievesestina, Cesena, has been smashed to pieces.
Unknown people entered the church of Santa Maria al Soccorso during Sunday mass and sprayed a pungent substance with pepper spray. The parish priest had to interrupt the service and finish celebrating mass outside. The perpetrators have fled.
A Catholic priest in Poland succumbed to serious injuries in the hospital on November 9 - six days after the physical attack in his parish of St. Albert by the 27-year-old man from Szczytno. The male suspect in this case is in custody, charged with attempted murder. The clergyman was attacked for the purpose of a robbery.
On November 8, a Tablecloth in the evangelical Church "Am Glockenhof" was set on fire in the afternoon. The fire burned the tablecloth and the diary on it. The damage caused is approximately 80 euros.
The churches of Truyes and Lignières-de-Touraine were desecrated and consecrated hosts were stolen. Four other churches in the diocese of Tours suffered identical events in the same week.
On the night of November 7, vandals broke a statue of Christ on the missionary cross in front of the church in Tarnow-Klikowa, into small pieces. Also, the statue's head was stolen. The parish priest and the faithful are convinced that it was a deliberate act of desecration.
A nun was brutally attacked near Largo di Torre Argentina in Rome on 4 November. The nun was violently punched and slapped in the face after trying to push away the attacker, who had approached the tabernacle in a suspicious manner.
On 3 November, an unknown person set fire to objects inside the Twelve Apostles Church in Mannheim, spreading to the carpet and a wooden table. The fire was extinguished before it spread further into the church building.
On the night of October 31, a fire damaged the entrance door of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Quartu.
A person driving a car rammed into the gate leading to St Patrick's Catholic Church in Ahane, causing extensive damage to the gate.
Police have arrested the suspect in an attempted arson attack on a church in Mersenburg. The man is believed to have set fire to plastic objects in the toilet area.
An incident of vandalism at St. Margarets Church in Bowers Gifford took place on October 28. The church sustained damage to various parts of the building including the roof, porch and stained-glass window.
On October 27, the tabernacle of the Notre-Dame de Vire church in Calvados was broken into and the ciboires, as well as the consecrated hosts, stolen.
On 27 October, someone set fire to a dozen prayer books on the altar of the church of Chamalières-sur-Loire, causing a huge smoke cloud in the building.
On the night of 26 October, three churches in Ternopol, Ukraine, were covered with Satanist tags, most of which read "666".
Unknown persons have damaged figures of St Bernadette and St Mary in front of the church in Venningen on October 23. A hand was cut off and the heads damaged. The figures are part of an implied Lourdes grotto next to the car park in front of the church.
On the night of October 22-23, the inscription "Ave Satan" was painted on the historic wall of the Holy Trinity Church in Kwidzyn. A 44-year-old man, known to local police for other crimes, was detained. However, he did not admit guilt.
On 20 October, someone broke into the church of Saint-Nicolas de Montigny and stole the chalice containing the consecrated host. Other consecrated hosts were scattered on the floor.
On 27 September, in Witaszyce, an unknown person cut off the head of the statue of Mary in a forest shrine. On October 12, five photos of the faces of Nazi soldiers were placed inside the shrine.
On the morning of 3 October, a group of masked individuals used climbing equipment to scale the balustrade of St Charles Church in Vienna and remove a banner promoting the March for Life. Left-wing extremist groups are suspected of having damaged the property of the Karlskirche over a long period of time and of having verbally abused and threatened the elderly priest.
The church of Sainte-Famille in Metz was broken into and desecrated during the night of 2 October. Unknown perpetrators broke in through large windows, damaged and stole different objects and desecrated the tabernacle.
On September 27, unknown perpetrators knocked over the baptismal font of holy water, the ornate bronze dome and the font bowl in St Mary's Church in Mönchengladbach. Wax from the candles was scattered all over the church and flowers were thrown into the rubbish bins.
An unknown perpetrator desecrated Cyranowska shrine at Karol Olszewski Square in Mielec, as reported on September 27. According to a witness to the incident, the glass of the chapel's cavity was broken, a statue of Mary was pulled out and its head was torn off.
As reported on September 26, the protestant church in Neunkirchen has been devastated. Vandals tore up hymn books and destroyed the altar Bible and other property. This is the second incident at the Protestant Johanneskirche in Neunkirchen.
As reported on 26 September, the church of Miribel les Echelles in Isère - the church of Miribel les Echelles in Isère, which was deliberately damaged by fire last year, has suffered two further arson attacks. It has since been closed to the public while an investigation is carried out into the perpetrators of these repeated acts of vandalism.
The church of Santa Lucia was vandalised. The first 3 letters of Santa Lucia have been torn off. "We discovered the serious sacrilegious act this morning", said the president of the Guild of Masons of Santa Lucia, Franco Spiga, "after untying part of the writing, they threw it to the ground and tore it to pieces".
On Saturday 21 September 2024, a serious act of vandalism took place in the chapel of Saint-Luc church in Brest. The tabernacle on the altar was smashed and then set on fire. As a result, the church will remain closed to the public until 2 October.
Repeated incidents of vandalism at the 700-year-old St Peter's Church in Chester have caused the historic stained glass windows to shatter and necessitated extensive repairs subsequently. Now the St Peter’s Church has submitted an application to Cheshire West and Chester Council to fit stainless steel protective guards to six windows.
A man has been arrested in connection with a fire in a church courtyard. The blaze broke out at St Marina Coptic Orthodox Church, Bristol in early morning on September 20.
Unknown perpetrators broke into the church in Vallset and stole valuable religious artefacts.
A recently renovated church in the community of Wernberg, Austria, was vandalised with paintball bullets. The facade, cemetery wall and forecourt of the church were smeared with a brownish substance. The parish has published pictures showing numerous brown dots.
On 15 September, two statues of Mary were badly damaged and personal belongings and devotional objects were set on fire in the St Anthony Abbot Church in Wijchen, Gelderland, both in the Marian Chapel and in the nearby Lourdes Grotto.
On 14 September, the oratory of Migliarina church in Viareggio caught fire. The police suspect arson. The interior of the building was completely destroyed. According to the parish priest, young boys were in the oratory when the fire broke out and had to be evacuated by the fire brigade.
The facade of the sanctuary of Our Lady of Entrustment in Tarnowiec was painted with blue spray with vulgar inscriptions and symbols associated with nationalistic ideologies.
On the night of 14 September, unknown persons smeared inscriptions in the form of pentagrams on the altar, pulpit and doors of St Michael's Church in Bissendorf. They also stole a plate with a chalice and a small figure of an angel.
On 13 September, unknown perpetrators set fire to and damaged several objects in the church of St John the Baptist. They also tried to open the collection box.
On 13 September, unknown persons entered the Willibrordus church in Mill, the Netherlands, and set fire to the candle stand by putting paper on the candles, causing a thick layer of candle wax on the floor and leaving the church covered in soot particles.
On 10 September, the San Fernando cemetery in Seville was the scene of vandalism. More than 60 graves were damaged during the night, with crosses and gravestones overturned and even some coffins damaged. Nothing was stolen.
On September 9, the altar of St Mary in the Catholic parish of St. Peter and Paul in Grevenbroich, Germany, was overturned and smashed to pieces. The front part of the church remains closed due to the severe damage caused by the vandalism.
Over the weekend of 7-8 September, unknown assailants broke into the Skånings-Åsaka church in Skara. They smashed the doors, windows and safe. The church's pastor says: "It's a real mess". The whole sacristy was turned upside down.
On Sunday September 8, a 40-year-old man entered the church in Tarnobrzeg during mass on a bicycle. According to witnesses, he rode several laps in front of the altar while shouting vulgarities in English and making offensive gestures.
The Zurich municipal councillor and Bosnian Muslim, Sanija Ameti, published photos of herself using a reproduction of a an image of Mary and Jesus as target practice at a shooting exercise on Instagram on September 7. The pierced heads of Mary and the baby Jesus could be seen on the picture.
On September 7, the Statue of Mary at the parish cemetery of St. Bartholomew in Goraj was doused with oil. The attack caused sadness among local parishioners.
On September 7, the Mariakapel at the Touwslagersgroes in Gennep, North Limburg, was the target of vandals for the third time in a short period of time.
A bomb threat was sent by email to the Cathedral of St. Elisabeth in Kosice, Slovakia. It was claimed that explosives were hidden in the premises. Consequently, the church had to be evacuated and was searched by security forces.
The police arrested a man for defacing the Sacré-Cœur church in Nice on September 6. He smashed several statues and threw a knife at a woman.
On the night of September 3, unknown perpetrators broke into the parish house of Corneliastrasse in Unkel through a window and ransacked the premises. They also stole sacred objects from the church.
On September 3, an attempted theft was noticed at the church of San Giorgio di Pagnano. This is the third time that the church has been targeted within a few months: At the end of May, a wooden candle box was set on fire inside the church. The priest was able to extinguish the fire before it could spread much further. A few weeks later, parcels for the members of the Bezece event disappeared.
On September 3, unknown vandals destroyed the shrine of "Our Lady of the Immaculate". The shrine was renovated 3 years ago by local people.
On the night of 1 September, a 39-year-old man set fire to the sacristy of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Omer. The flames then spread to the naves and then to the whole church. The bell tower and the roof were completely destroyed.
A large fire broke out on Sunday, 1 September at the Parish Church of the Holy Name in Greenisland, Northern Ireland. Police are treating the fire as arson. To local parish community is shocked by the incident.
In the night between September 1 and 2, unknown persons set the fire to the side door of the "Church of the Miracle" which is located in Via Casa Santa, in Mazara. The attack is a worrying sign of the continuation of criminal acts in the town.
On September 1, a Muslim woman entered the evangelical Angel Church in Islington, London, screaming 'Allahu Akbar' and that she was 'here to kill the God of the Jews’. She became more aggressive after she was asked to leave the building.
On Friday 30 August, unknown persons broke into the sacristy by smashing the glass of one of the two entrance doors to the church in Mercatale di Vernio, Italy. Four chalices and three pyxes worth over 3000 euros were stolen.
A 27-year-old man has been charged with a series of alleged arson attacks in St Johnston on 28 August. He is accused of attempting to set fire to three religious buildings, namely the Irish Catholic St Baithins Church, the Protestant Orange Hall and a local Masonic Hall.
Heggen Church in Buskerud was vandalised. The church is located in Vikersund, where there has been a very tense atmosphere in the last two weeks after a serious incident of violence in the village.
In the night of August 24 to 25, unknown perpetrators tried to set fire to a pilgrim church in Dorschhausen, Bad Wörishofen. They also tried to set fire to the tablecloth on the altar, causing severe damage of several thousand euros.
Ukrainian lawmakers have approved a bill banning the Russian Orthodox Church. The text targets the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate and has raised concerns about the safeguarding of religious freedom in Ukraine. The law requires the UOC to cut all ties with the Russian Orthodox Church or face a process that would lead to its dissolution.
Several church windows at Friedrich-Ebert-Staße were smashed with stones by unknown persons. Police are investigating.
On August 24, staff at the Agios Eleftherios cemetery in Istanbul found that the barbed wire fence around the cemetery had been cut, gravestones desecrated, holes dug and the cemetery's guard dogs sedated.
On 23 August 2024, a 26-year-old Syrian man attacked several people at a city festival in Solingen. IS claimed authorship of the attack and announced via Amaq (IS news agency) that it was "directed against Christians." The attack left three people dead and eight wounded.
Between 20 and 28 August 2024, unknown persons entered the Höchheim church and damaged the Easter candle. They also scribbled on the white altar ceiling with a burnt-out candle cloth. The damage is estimated at around 200 euros.
During the night of 21-22 August, unknown perpetrators ransacked the church of the Sirena cemetery and vandalised up to 5 private chapels on the cemetery of Serina, Bergamo. Pews, religious objects, flower pots, candles and glass were strewn about and partly destroyed.
In August 2024, thieves broke into several churches in Frick and stole valuable church ornaments: silver-plated candlesticks. In Wegenstetten, a crucifix was stolen. In Zeiningen, various gold-plated jewels were stolen. The losses were estimated at several tens of thousands of francs.
Serious damage inside the Church of the Assumption in Bra on August 20 has caused deep concern. Unknown persons broke into the building and destroyed the furnishings and furniture. The altarpiece depicting the Assumption of the Mary was damaged with numerous holes, the face of the statue of Mary was smeared with black paint, crucifixes were broken and damaged, the curtain of the canopy over the altar was torn, and the marble and tiles were removed from the floor under the miniature of the Lourdes grotto.
As reported on August 22, unknown perpetrators desecrated the church of Samartín de Güerces and stole objects of great religious and historical value: a chalice, a monstrance; lanterns, crosses and even lamps.
In August, someone stole money, keys and the personal belongings, including devotional objects, of a canon from the archpriest at the church of Saints Simon and Jude in Cartigliano. Earlier that month, someone destroyed flowers and vases on several graves in the town's cemetery.
A Christian charity volunteer has received a £13,000 payout and an apology from police after claiming her arrest for silently praying outside an abortion clinic was unjust and violated her human rights. While many see this as a victory for religious freedom, the new UK government is planning to introduce national legislation banning prayer outside abortion clinics.
Unknown vandals have smeared the walls of the city church in Haiger. According to police, "Allahu Akbar" was written on the walls.
An ornate historic oak bishop's chair, 100 years old and worth £500, has been stolen from the 13th-century All Saints' Church in Ashwicken between August 19- 23.
On the night from August 16 to 17, unknown persons destroyed a statue of Mary and other sacred objects in a chapel of a retirement home in Montecilfone.
Two churches in the Lot département suffered thefts of sacred objects on August 16 and 17, in Saint-Jean de Laure and Concots. These are the 4th and 5th thefts since the start of the year 2023 - and the 15th and 16th since the series of thefts began previous year.
On the night of 15 August (the Catholic Feast Day of the Assumption Mary), vandals destroyed an important stone cross in Tréport, France. The stone cross is more than 400 years old and was declared a historical monument in 1913.
A statue of Mary outside St Joseph Church in Wembley in the Diocese of Westminster, was smashed into pieces in the night of August 7, leaving behind the empty plinth. The parishioners are shocked. Police presence around the church will be reinforced.
On August 5, a cross in the fields of the Polish village Kościuki was vandalised again, following two previous incidents. This time, the vandals also cut up the figure of Jesus, which was attached to the cross, and threw the pieces in the bushes. The local community is shocked about the anti-religious hatred displayed by the act.
On the evening of August 5, unknown persons entered the church of the Most Precious Blood in Porto Recanati and, after forcing the tabernacle, took the hosts that had already been consecrated and were kept inside. During their escape, the thieves abandoned a chalice on the street. The parish priest alerted the police. Nothing else was stolen from the church.
On August 5, Parisian police arrested six Christians who were on a bus labelled with “Stop attacks on Christians” driving around Paris to bring attention to the Last Supper parody at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony and its anti-Christian message.
In the church of Saint-Pierre in Lège-Cap-Ferret, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the tabernacle was set on fire during the night of August 4. Furthermore, religious materials were smashed on the ground. The church will remain closed during the restoration. The police have started an investigation.
A member of the Baptist church in Middlesborough was attacked by far-right protesters as he prayed alongside a rally on 4 August.
The trial for “abuse of weakness” of the Catholic Missionary Family of Notre-Dame (FMND) raises concerns about the application of the recently amended French “anti-cult” law. At the trail, the experts solicited by the investigators presented some of basic principles of religious communities, such as the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, or silence and parts of the Catholic catechism, as “means of submission”.
On August 1, a 40-year-old man violently pushed an elderly woman who was praying in St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church to the ground, kicked her and took her bag. As a result of the attack, the woman suffered a laceration to her head and was taken to hospital where she was stitched up.
On July 31, three men broke into a church in Szydłów and caused €700 worth of damage.
On July 31, vandals partially forced open the front and outer doors of the sacristy of the church of Scalini, a hamlet of Arsiero, destroyed a plaster statue of St. Anthony holding the Infant Jesus, decapitated both figures, threw furniture on the ground, attempted break into the donation box, broke a stained glass window in the apse, and tore down a microphone.
In Northern Ireland, a court is set to rule on the case of a woman and a man who were arrested for praying inside an abortion "buffer zone" in October 2023. If found guilty in the current hearing, the woman who pleaded not guilty faces up to six months in prison. The police arrested them without any prior complaints about their presence on the street.
On the night of July 30, four young people broke into the Sant'Antonio Abate Church in Incisa Scapaccino, Asti. They broke into the entrance door, destroyed the cribs and sacred furniture, smeared the walls with spray cans and damaged the sound system for the services.
On the night of 27-28 July, vandals severely damaged a statue of Mary located at the entrance to the village of Kościuk. The statue's hands were cut off, a hole was punched in its head, its eyes were gouged out and its face destroyed. This was not the first act of vandalism against a religious object in the region.
Joshua Sutcliffe, a Christian maths teacher, lost his High Court appeal case after being banned from teaching for "misgendering" a pupil. The judge said that “just because misgendering a transgender pupil might not be unlawful does not mean that it is appropriate conduct for a teacher.”
According to an opinion poll by the think tank “Logos” published in The Herald on July 23, Christians in Scotland feel “excluded”. More than 70% feel the Scottish Government does not support them and 75% were concerned about abuse against Christian politicians.
In the night of Saturday, July 20 to Sunday, July 21, vandals defaced the façade of the church of Saint-Paul in Orne, France, with satanist graffiti. The tags included inverted crosses, pentagrams, and writings such as ‘False God’, ‘Liar’, and the number ‘666’, symbolising the devil. The statues on the façade were also sprayed with red paint, adding to the seriousness of the damage.
On Sunday, July 21, a 46-year-old woman was arrested in Tudela, Navarra, after threatening the priest who was officiating the Sunday mass and the congregation with a cutter. According to the Municipal Police of Tudela, the woman not only threatened with the cutter, but also broke the glass of the entrance door of the church by throwing a stone. This act of vandalism increased the level of alarm among those present, who quickly called the authorities.
A Swiss couple is taking legal action after their 16-year-old daughter was taken away from the parents and put into a government shelter due to the parents' objection to the daughter's "gender transitioning". The parents also said that doctors have been trying to administer puberty blockers to their daughter without their consent. The case has sent shockwaves around the world and raises severe concerns over the protection of parental rights, including for Christians objecting to the transitioning of their children.
Between Sunday, July 14 and Monday, July 15, vandals broke into the Parisian Notre-Dame-du-Travail Church, vandalised the building and left a number of Islamic anti-Christian graffiti, like "Submit yourselves to Allah infidels" and a knife planted in the throat of a statue of Mary.
On Saturday, July 13, unknown perpetrators broke into the sanctuary of the Madonna della Grotta, stole over 500 euro and beheaded the statue of the infant Jesus.
On July 13, fire was set to the church of St. Benedikt in the Allgäu community of Argenbühl-Eisenharz (Ravensburg district). This is already the second arson attack on the church this year. When the fire brigade arrived three pews were burning brightly, but the fire brigade was able to extinguish the fire quickly. However, according to initial estimates by the Catholic parish, severe damage was caused. The church is completely covered in soot.
On Wednesday afternoon, July 12, a group of young Christians aged between 16 and 23 were attacked on Lake Constance while they were reading bible verses over a megaphone on a rental boat.
On Monday evening, July 8, a man drove a truck into the Pentecostal Elim Church in Brunn am Gebirge, Austria. According to the police, this was a deliberate attack. The man confessed that he had acted out of anger, the perpetrator, however, is not known to the church.
On July 3 at around 11 am, the police discovered anti-police, anti-Semitic and anti-Christian tags in Croissy-sur-Seine (Yvelines, west of Paris). The writings were found on the wall of the Canotiers' underground car park. According to the news, the following slogans are written in metre-high letters: "ACAB", "FLIC = TUEUR", "FREE PALESTINE", and "À MORT LES JUIFS ET LES CHRÉTIENS", inciting to killing police, Jews and Christians.