Christian parents fear their 14-year-old daughter will be taken into foster care unless they allow her to change her female name to a male one.
The intruders gained access to the church after breaking a fence and window. They stole consecrated Hosts that were in the tabernacle and stole valuable religious jewelry, left other Hosts and various objects lying on the floor, and vandalized numerous images of virgins and saints.
The NGOs AVC (Action on behalf of Persecuted Christians and the Needy), EMG (European Mission Society) as well as ZOCD (Central Council of Oriental Christians in Germany) and Open Doors announced the results of their research on October 17th.
The intrusion was discovered by a member of the parish one hour before the beginning of Sunday Mass. The portrait of the Virgin Mary was removed from its pedestal, the crucifix and other objects of worship were thrown to the ground, according to Michel Bournat, the mayor of Gif-sur-Yvette. A police investigation is underway.
On the afternoon of October 8, 2016, two young men entered the church of Santa Rita in Vigo and asked to give confession to Father Antonio Rodríguez, age 83. Once alone with him, the two assailants grabbed the priest from behind, threw him to the ground and kicked him all over his body and head. They stole his glasses, wallet, watch, and the money they found in the church.
Spanish authorities expelled the Moroccan man who admitted setting a fire in a church that destroyed several images of the Virgin Mary and then violating a restraining order by destroying a cross atop another church in September.
A man broke and entered into the rectory of the church of Sainte-Louise-de-Marillac in the parish of Drancy, ostensibly to commit a theft. He struck the priest in the head with a bottle, but was stopped from committing further assault by the priest, who had previously studied judo.
The home, which belongs to The Salvation Army, had previously contested a Swiss law that allows assisted suicide to take place in charitable institutions, if requested by a patient. They challenged the legislation, saying that it conflicted with their religious beliefs and violated their freedom of conscience. Last week, federal judges rejected their complaint and said the only way the care home could avoid complying with the law was by giving up its charitable status.
Laurence Rossignol, minister of families, children, and women’s rights, has announced that the French government intends to introduce legislation to ban pro-life websites it judges to be 'extremist'. She plans an amendment to the current “Equality and Citizenship” law, which will impose penalties on owners of pro-life sites of 30,000 euro fine (£26,517/ $33,600) and two years in prison.
A recently repaired and cleaned cemetery chapel was turned into a public toilet and a garbage dump, with many graves overrun with weeds, despite a custodian employed by the Priština municipality.
The new museum included an exhibit of a virtual image of the Virgin Mary in a glass box. Visitors were invited to kick the display, causing the image to appear to fall to pieces and the word "Reformation" to appear.
The crucifix of Lake Fimon, in the Berici hills was defaced with paint for the second time in 10 months.
Police arrested a 39-year-old Ghanaian man suspected of attacking several churches in Rome over the previous two days. He is suspected of heavily damaging devotional statues, crucifixes, and candlesticks at the Basilica of Santa Prassede, the Church of San Martino ai Monti, and the Basilicas of San Giovanni de' Fiorentini and San Vitale.
Following the failed military coup against President Erdogan the Christians of Turkey are being made scapegoats by government officials and Islamist extremists.
Police with guns patrol Canterbury Cathedral due to concerns about terror attacks. The extra security is in response to a series of jihadist attacks across Europe, including the murder of French priest, Father Jacques Hamel.
The Association calls for the removal of any references to God in the Constitution, and to any clauses that require public officials to swear a religious oath upon taking office.
Acts of vandalism were discovered in the church of Saint-Héray late in the afternoon on September 29: Statues of Joan of Arc and the Virgin Mary were damaged, as were a crucifix, a rosary, and prayer books.
An Orthodox-Christian monument in Piata Unirii ("Union Square") in the form of a large cross, was vandalized with LGBT and anarchist graffiti.
Two and a half years after a pro-abortion group burst into the parish of San Miguel in Palma de Mallorca during Mass shouting "take your rosaries out of our ovaries" and shouts in favor of "free abortion," they have refused to come to an agreement with the diocese that would avoid a trial.
During the night from September 25 to 26th, one or more individuals broke into the church. Once inside, they stole the collection box containing donations to the church. They opened the tabernacle and threw the consecrated Hosts on the floor.
Marina Nalesso, an Italian TV presenter, has been the target of online attacks from secular atheists for wearing on TV a rosary and holy medals, including a St Benedict medal.
The 22-year-old suspect appeared in court on September 21 and a trial will begin on October 12. He is said to be Moroccan national, and already known to authorities for previous fires set in Paris and Millau.
The parish priest confirmed that there had been acts of vandalism and arson attempts in this church, probably during the night of September 18th to 19th.
A group of students at Pristina University has demanded that a Serbian Orthodox church on campus be either destroyed or converted into student facilities.
The case concerned the authorities’ refusal to grant a Jehovah's Witness the status of conscientious objector and to allow him to do alternative civilian work instead of military service. The Court held that this was a violation of Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The man arrested on September 9th for burning images of the Virgin Mary in the Church of Fontellas was arrested again a week later for destroying the cross atop the church of Ribaforada.
The Humanist Society Scotland (HSS) is seeking judicial review after the Scottish Government rejected calls for a change to the current rules which permit only parents to opt out on their children’s behalf.
The incident occurred in the afternoon of September 12th when an individual alerted authorities in the basilica that he had extinquished a burning cloth of great artistic value in the sanctuary and that moments before he had seen someone set it on fire. Security cameras assisted the police in locating the perpetrator.
Unknown perpetrators painted "666", a swastika, and a pentagram on the facade of the church with red paint.
A Moroccan man admitted setting a fire that destroyed an ancient altarpiece and beautiful images in the church of Fontellas in Navarre on September 8, the day recognized by Catholics as of the Nativity of the Virgin (the day of the birth of the Virgin Mary).
Christian leaders and the Christian Police Union criticized the acquittal, noting that all of the witnesses were Muslims - many of whom helped the accused flee after the incident.
In Roubaix, the porch of the church of Sacré-Cœur was destroyed by fire during the night from 2-3 September. Rubbish, including a bench, were burned on the boulevard de Strasbourg and the fire spread to the door of the church.
Unknown offenders tried to set the altar of the St. Anton church on fire in the morning of September 1st. They also damaged furniture, painting, and statues according to the police, who call it a case of vandalism.
Refugees who have converted from Islam to Christianity report beatings, threats, bullying, and social exclusion in refugee accommodations.
Three of the bishops are being threatened with a criminal complaint for having written and published a condemnation of Madrid’s new “Law of Integral Protection against LGTBIphobia and Discrimination for Reasons of Orientation and Sexual Identity.” The fourth bishop is being criminally investigated for expressing support for the statement of the first three.
The organization National Churchwatch issued a new security guidance to every church in the UK in the wake of the murder of French priest Jacques Hamel by Islamist terrorists.
A Christian nurse was fired for "gross misconduct" by the NHS for talking to her patients about her faith and occasionally offering prayer to help them prepare for surgery. Part of her job was to help patients complete a questionnaire, which included a question about religion.
Attempts by Serbs to mark the religious holiday of Assumption in several towns in Kosovo and Metohija were met with road blocks, threats of burning, rocks, tear gas, and an attack on the car of the deputy director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Dusan Kozarev.
Police opened an investigation after a bystander reported smelling smoke from the church of Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption. Investigators discovered damaged statues, as well as missals, songbooks, and wreaths knocked to the floor. The altar tablecloth was burnt, but the fire did not spread to the rest of the church.
From May to August 2016 four wooden summit crosses in the Bad Tölz-Wolfrashausen region were destroyed by unknown perpetrators using an ax.
Rudy Salles defended the ban of the "Burkini" and said that the same ban would apply to Catholic nuns wearing habits on Nice beaches.
Cardinal Archbishop of Valencia, Antonio Cañizares was offering Mass in Avila dedicated to St. Teresa of Avila when he was interrupted by an individual who entered the church shouting insults at the Cardinal such as “Nazi, thief, Fascist.”
A thirty-year-old man was arrested by police after witnesses reported hearing him threaten several times to "kill a priest" and yelling "Allah Akbar." The man claimed it was a joke and was found to have been under the influence of narcotics.
The 17-year-old boy was filmed declaring in Arabic, “Oh Allah, destroy the odious Christians. Oh Allah kill them all.”
A resident of Weilerlach discovered religious statues of Jesus and Joseph decapitated by unknown vandals in a public park. The police are investigating.
The last remaining stained glass window in the church of Sainte-Julienne was destroyed on August 19th by stones. A few months earlier the other windows of the church had been similarly damaged, forcing the church to erect protective fences. Costs to restore and repair the damage is estimated to be considerable.
An Afghan refugee (31) who converted from Islam to Christianity was attacked by four Muslim Afghans in Maintal near Frankfurt am Main. They shouted “Allahu Akbar” and said that they were going to kill him.
An unknown person threw a rock through the window of the Catholic church in Karlstad a week after the city's administrative board denied permission for the church to install CCTV cameras.
Daniel E. was sentenced to life in prison on January 30, 2017 for the August 2016 premeditated murder of his Christian flatmate. The self-proclaimed "antitheist" admitted killing her because of his hatred of all religion. The judge said, "He killed her as a representative of her religion because he could not kill all believers.”
A young Christian asylum seeker was approached by several men on the street near Berlin and was asked whether he is Christian. When he said yes, he was insulted in Arabic and badly beaten.
At least 40 stones were thrown at four stained glass windows in a church in Delme, possibly using slingshots from outside the church. Damage is estimated to be 20,000 euros. Police are investigating.
During the weekend of August 14th, a hiker discovered the chapel door forced open and the statue of Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette removed from its display, decapitated, and left outside the building with its head at its feet. Police are investigating.
The church of Notre Dame in Vouvray was vandalized with black spray paint during the weekend of August 14, 2016 with a message accusing the church of fundamentalism and calling Christianity a sect: "Intégriste Christianize = Secte." An investigation was initiated.
Donald Ossewaarde was arrested on August 14th as he conducted a bible study group in his home. He is first foreign missionary to be charged with violating Russia's law banning missionary activity outside officially registered church buildings.
During the night of August 13, 2016, unknown persons forced open the door of the church of San Bartolomeo in the Como province and attempted to break open the tabernacle containing consecrated Hosts, broke the marble lectern, and topped the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, breaking her hands and nose.
After 88 years of closure, the Panagia Sumela Monastery in Trabzon, was reopened in June 2010 and since then, the Turkish authorities had given a license for a yearly Mass to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to celebrate the Mass of the Assumption. This year, the authorization was administratively revoked.
The Callosa de Segura town council voted to remove the cross in the plaza of the church of San Martin. Christian legal groups objected, noting that its presence poses no threat to anyone and that it is part of the town's historical and cultural heritage.
The Catholic Church of Karlstad has been a repeated victim of attacks: Hate graffiti, inverted crosses glued on its walls, and broken windows. In 2015, Father Martin Ferenc, pastor of the church, filed no fewer than 15 police complaints. The police suggested that he install video surveillance cameras in order to identify the perpetrators. The priest therefore asked the administrative board to authorize their installation. The board rejected the application on the grounds that the church's interest in solving these crimes is outweighed by the individual's interest in not being recorded.
A "street artist" tagged a fresco in the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Vicenza with black spray paint.
During a press conference with Bundestag member Erika Steinbach, Pastor Mahin Mousapour said Christians staying at migrant shelters are being told that they are impure and that they deserve to die for rejecting Islam.
The attack occurred at 3.10 a.m. when unidentified assailants, presumed to be anarchists, threw four Molotov cocktails into the yard of a church in central Athens, the Moni Petraki, which houses the central offices of the Church of Greece's Holy Synod. The molotov cocktails detonated, destroying two cars that had been parked outside.
Four women wearing headscarves entered the Church of San Zulian, approached the crucifix, and spat on it. They then moved among the tourists undetected. The day before, on July 6, 2016, two young men, described as "Asians," received Communion, and then spat out pieces of the Host onto the ground and fled.
During the day of August 6, 2016, a 14-year-old intentionally set a fire in the church of San Filippo Neri in Savigliano using candles. The fire spread to the wooden paneling and was finally contained by the use of two fire extinguishers.
Fourteen young Christian Iranians fled their accommodations after being threatened with death for months by a group of Muslims living in the tent city.
The posters read: "The only church that illuminates is one that burns" along with an illustration of a church on fire.
A group of about 25 people burst into the church of Saint Gregory Palamas in Thessaloniki, disrupting the Divine Liturgy (Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite) throwing leaflets protesting against the expulsion of refugees and migrants. The protesters clashed with those present in the church. Riot police made more than twenty arrests.
An unknown perpetrator climbed the clock tower of the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Saulcy-sur-Meurthe and twisted the metal hands of the clock, rendering it inoperable.
In the wake of the murder of a French priest, the Belgian publication NordPress posted the following (in French): "Pope Francis announced today at the World Youth Day that all priests who die a martyr, like the 84-year-old abbot killed by extremists in his church, will receive 72 altar boys in paradise. A new dogmatic measure for the Catholic Church which aims to compete with the 72 virgins offered to Muslim martyrs."
Italy expelled two Moroccan men who caused disturbances in Catholic churches as part of a wider effort to reduce terrorism threats. The two expelled were a 25-year-old man who smashed a 300-year-old wooden crucifix to the ground inside a Venice church in early July and a 69-year-old man who stormed into a church in 2015 in Trentino and shouted abusive statements about Catholicism.
The cross and the base of a monument were broken with a sledgehammer and chisel. The opening of the monument was scheduled for three days later. Police investigated.
Father Jacques Hamel, 84, died after his throat was slit during an attack on the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray by two armed men.
Unknown perpetrators broke into the church of Saint-Pierre of Jupilles and ripped the central electronic control panel of the bells from the wall. The box was found on the altar. The Mayor said "It is the symbol of the sacred is affected. There is a will to harm."
The newly-constructed chapel of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X was vandalized with anti-Catholic, anarchist slogans.
British pro-life doctors and nurses face hostility, loss of advancement, and pressure to perform or refer for abortions despite legislation guaranteeing their right to conscientiously object, according to a parliamentary inquiry.
The mountaintop statue of the Virgin Mary of la fontaine du lac de Ninu holding the infant Jesus was vandalized, with the heads and arms cut off both figures.
"Hart van Homo's" (Heart for Gays), a Christian charity that encourages celibacy for gay Christians, lost governmental funding after the ruling party argued that it sent the wrong message.
Four young men broke into the church of Saint-Pierre and overturned benches, broke vases, and emptied a fire extinguisher. They urinated and defecated in the holy water on the altar and on the altar itself.
Gordon Larmour, a Christian evangelist, was charged with behaving in a "threatening or abusive manner aggravated by prejudice relating to sexual orientation" and "assault", after he referred to the Book of Genesis and stated that God created Adam and Eve to produce children in response to a 19-year-old's question about God's views on homosexuality. He spent one night in prison. Six months later, a court in Kilmarnock, Scotland acquitted him of all charges.
Two churches in cities in eastern Turkey infamous as the sites of historic killings of Christians were vandalized during the attempted coup on 15 July, 2016.
The church of Saint-Pierre des Chartreux was vandalized: The tabernacle door was torn off and part of the book collection of the prayers of the faithful was burned. Other objects were overturned. A police report was filed.
An order of nuns was ordered to pay 25,000 Euros to a teacher for discontinuing her employment based on the incompatibility of her sexual orientation with the Catholic school’s ethos.
A fire was set in the cemetery of Caucade in Nice West, where three tombs were blackened. One hour later, a fire was discovered in the church of Saint-Marc and a door was damaged.
No casualties were reported, but the damage was considerable: the roof collapsed and the building was destroyed. The cause of the fire is being investigated and arson has not been ruled out.
The young man of North African origin rushed into the church of St. Jeremiah, in Cannaregio, Venice and threw a large crucifix to the floor, heavily damaging the religious artifact.
Cardinal Marx, chair of German Bishops' Conference and Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, head of the Protestant Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), united to condemn the attacks on Christians and other religious minorities in camps.
A 42-year old man confessed to setting at least fifteen fires including one that damaged the Abbey Saint-Austremoine in Issoire on July 3. The blaze, which destroyed a confessional, a table and some chairs, was quickly extinguished. The fire caused great upset among the population. The suspect was indicted for "intentional damage by dangerous means to people."
The churches of La Motte, Lauren, Loudéac, and Lachèze in the region of Côtes-d'Armor were painted with the word "Pédophile."
The country's religious education classes in French-speaking primary and secondary schools will be cut in half in October 2016 and replaced with a weekly hour of citizenship classes, over the objection of students and teachers.
The new law bans preaching, praying, proselytizing, and disseminating religious materials outside of officially-designated sites, and authorizes fines for these activities conducted in private residences or distributed through mass print, broadcast or online media.
The church of Santa Elena was the victim of desecration, theft, and vandalism on July 3rd. The parish priest discovered the tabernacle completely emptied, smashed and detached from the wall. A statue of the Virgin Mary was decapitated, and a ciborium full of consecrated Hosts was stolen, along with an ancient reliquary containing a fragment of the Holy Cross.
The statue, located on private property in Chadenac and surrounded by a wrought iron fence, was vandalized and its head was broken off.
Judges in Belgium fined a Catholic nursing home after it prevented doctors from giving a lethal injection to a 74-year-old lung cancer sufferer on its premises.
The president of Asturias Laica, Jose Luis Iglesias, has formally requested that the Mayor of Gijon, Carmen Moriyón, resign from office for assisting in the Catholic ritual of the blessing of the waters in the feast of San Pedro, the city’s patron saint, which was celebrated on June 29.
A man broke into St. Paul's Church in central Malmö and vandalized it, including breaking the stained glass windows. According to the police, it will be investigated as a hate crime as they suspect that the man attacked the church because it is a symbol of the Christian faith.
The statue, the civil and religious symbol of the city of Bologna, was defaced with "Allah Akbar" painted on the base. The Archdiocese of Bologna condemned the act and police are investigating.
Two young Afghan men severely attacked a woman from Iran because she converted from Islam to Christianity, according to police.
A York jury heard evidence about sustained bullying of a teenage apprentice, a Catholic, by tying him to a cross in a mock crucifixion, among other acts, during a trial. They found the accused guilty of assault, but not guilty of religiously aggravated assault.
Cardinal Antonio Cañizares was accused of hate speech by the Feminist Platform of Alicante, along with 55 other LGBT organizations. They alleged that his homily was "full of hatred, homophobic and sexist." On June 23, 2016 he was cleared of the charges.
A 24-year-old man was arrested after he entered the crypt of the shrine to the city patrons Cassius and Florentius and caused extensive damage to the crypt, tabernacle, and the sarcophagus in which the relics of the saints are held.
On July 2, Swiss police arrested a 51-year old suspected of intentionally setting fire to a confessional in the St. Gallon Cathedral.