Father Giorgio Govoni, 59, pastor of Staggia di San Prospero Church in the province of Modena, Italy, was accused of being a member of a group of pedophiles who engaged in sexually violent and harmful acts with minors, including participation in satanic rites in the Massa Finalese Cemetery. He was cleared after his death by the court of second instance.
Jesmond Parish Church in Newcastle upon Tyne was covered with obscene phrases and pornographic graffiti after Rev. Holloway preached about homosexuality in the teachings of the Bible. The graffiti included drawings of men having sex, and insulting expressions such as "Holloway Out", "Bigot" and "Down with Holloway".
Pastor jailed for calling an abortion specialist “professional killer” and “torturer” in Erlangen.
A politician was fined in the first instance for hate speech in criticizing homosexuality. Even though the court of second instance lifted the sentence, the hypersensitivity of the first court is a worrying sign.
(1995/1996) Several instances have been collected in which staff were denied the right to conscientious objection and lost their jobs.
The Monastery of the Prophet Elias of Maronite Monks, situated near the village of Ayia Marina Skyllouras, in the Nicosia district in Cyprus, was bombed during the second phase of the Turkish invasion. The Turkish air force savagely attacked the religious building which caught fire and was badly damaged.
Ayios Procopios, a Byzantine church of the 11th or 12th century situated in the village of Synkrasi, in the Famagusta district, in the Republic of Cyprus, was desecrated after the military had occupied the region by force. The iconostasis was destroyed and the portable icons were stolen. The church is today a refuge for birds.
Antifonitis Monastery, a Byzantine monastery, built at the end of the 12th century, was destroyed as a consequence of the Turkish invasion. The heads of the two Archangels in the apse of the church were ruined. Turkish illicit dealers in antiquities cut into pieces and removed from the walls the representations of the Day of Judgment and the Stem of Jesse, vandalising a large part of them.
Members of the clergy were advised to take off their Roman collars when they are on their own, to reduce the risk of being attacked. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury should remove the collar outside church.
Government lawyers have told the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that Christians should “leave their religious beliefs at home or move to another job” when faced with a clash between the requirements of their faith and their employment.