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.
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.
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.
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.