A Somerset Parish Council ended a 115-year tradition of saying Christian prayers at the beginning of its meeting after receiving a complaint.
A church in London has seen congregation numbers dwindle from 100 to 30 since the local council subjected it to noise restrictions following a complaint from a Muslim neighbour.
A large percentage of Turkish residents report that Christians are unwelcome in both the public and private sectors.
Professor Luigi Lombardi Vallauri's teaching contract was not prolonged by the Catholic University of Milano after he taught things like the gospel was the “most frightening message ever made known to mankind” and that “Jesus was through and through a bad human being”. On October 20th, the Court ruled that this was a violation of his freedom of opinion.
Catholics were stoned while participating to a Mass at the cemetery chapel of Donji Vajuf.
Unknown perpetrators placed several pornographic images in the hymnal books of two Tyrolean Churches, and glued various Jewish and Nazi symbols on the front cover.
The church of Notre-Dame d’Espérance in Siant-Brieux (Côtes d’Armor) was targeted by vandals on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009. Chairs were broken and thrown to the ground, trash was spread in the church and stain glass windows were broken by throwing stones and chairs at them.
Large white crosses carried by pro life manifestations through the city of Berlin. Several of the crosses were stolen by members of left wing associations and were thrown into a nearby river.
About 15 graves were vandalized in the cemetery of Cré near Châteauroux (Indre). Headstones were tipped or broken and funeral ornaments were wrecked.
Vandals broke or extracted numerous white crosses of the military cemetery of Nompatelize (Vosges). The Maire of Nompatelize, Didier Barret, furious, says: “What distinguishes men from animals is the respect for the dead. Those who did this are stupid, I don’t even know if they were aware of their actions. I wish they will once know the price of the blood shed for their peace and freedom.”
Large-scale vandalism of a Christian cemetery recalls decades of suffering by Orthodox Christians in Turkey.
A group of Catholic nuns were openly insulted in Tuzla on August 21st, 2009.
On Thursday, September 17th, 2009, in the evening, a man entered the church of Saint-Hilaire to vandalize the statue of the Virgin Mary. The statue fell on the ground and broke into pieces.
On September 11th, 12th and 13th was set in the French town of Angers the 11th annual Festival of the Accroche-Coeur. Its theme was “Angels and Demons”, a theme which led to half-naked angels and demons parades, erotic shows and short plays imitating and fooling a Catholic Mass. The Christian Democratic Party said he was “deeply shocked” by the erotic displays; the mayor himself, Jean-Claude Antonini left the show without giving his final speech.
Anti-Christian slogans such as “There is no God” and “If Mary had had an abortion, we would have been spared from you!” shouted at anti-life demo in Vienna.
A Christian church in South Wales was targeted by vandals who smashed its newly restored stained glass windows. Worshippers were forced to cancel services in order to fix damages.
70 graves were wrecked in the cemetery of Coudekerque-Branche. Memorial plaques, funeral ornaments and urns were found broken into pieces and laying on the ground. Rocks were also thrown on numerous graves, thus damaging them. David Bailleul, the mayor of Coudekerque-Branche, condems these “obnoxious, unacceptable and scandalous acts”.
A charity in Scotland decided to drop the word ‘church’ from its title, saying that it creates “unnecessary barriers” to accessing public funding. The chairman of Perth-based Churches Action for the Homeless (CATH) said he had been told “off the record” that their perceived religious identity made it more difficult for them to receive grants. Trustees asked the charity’s supporters to suggest a new “fully inclusive” name for the group.
In July and in August 2009, the church of Juniville was targeted several times by vandals who broke stained glass windows by throwing rocks at them. The costs of the fixing was estimated at about 10 000€.
The Xth century church of Communay was targeted by vandals during the night of August, 24th, 2009. Two crosses were unhooked and thrown to the ground. Candals and singing books were found all over the church and flower pots were thrown against a stain-glass window.