Strangers set fire to the entrance door of the presbytery by means of petrol in Rüthen on Oct 12th. The fire had already made its way under the door and set the tapestry on fire when it was discovered and extinguished. Police asked the public for help.
Recurring instances of vandalism at Essen cemetery amount to 30 000 Euros in damage. The acts of vandalism include the stealing of vases, the removal of letters on graveyards, the ignition of over 50 compost containers in the time period of a few weeks. Several relatives of those whose graves had been attacked were under significant emotional distress.
Crowborough Town Council and Mayfield Parish Council - both in East Sussex - have both been warned that prayers "should not be part of a council meeting". The warning comes from the Sussex Association of Local Councils, which is responsible for local government in the area.
At a UN meeting, delegates from Britain, Denmark, Spain and other countries called for Ireland to legalize abortion - with Denmark calling for legislation to allow for abortion on demand, constituting pressure seeking to undermine the Christian convictions of the majority of the Irish population.
The archbishop of Moscow, Msgr. Paolo Pezzi has critized the city of Pskow (North-West Russia) to discriminate against the Catholic Church by denying the prolongation of a building permit.
BBC’s new guidelines of religious impartiality contain the suggestion to use religiously “neutral” terms instead of “BC” and “AD” during discussions of history on air.
A crowd of about one thousand people had gathered at the sanctuary of Our Lady of Santa-Cruz in Nîmes, for the annual procession organized by the ‘Joyeuse Union Don Bosco’ every year since 1982. But when they went back to their personal cars, several of them were surrounded, insulted and stoned by groups of violent youths.
UK, Blackpool: Jamie Murray, Salt & Light Coffee House's owner, has been visited by the Lancashire Police and threatened for the display of Bible versicles on a TV screen inside his property. The police told Murray that the Bible passages use offensive, insulting words, and this constitutes a violation of Section 5 of the Public Order Act. The officers warned Murray that if he didn’t stop, he could be prosecuted for hate speech. The coffee house TV screen connected to a DVD displays images with no soundtrack from "Watchword Bible", which contents verses from the New Testament.
Left-wing extremists prevented a pro-life group from showing a short movie about the development of the human embryo on the square in front of Düsseldorf’s main railway station.
The Church of Saint Martin in Langrune-sur-Mer (Calvados), a XIIIth century church, was targeted by vandals. Many damages were caused: flowers on the ground, flower pots smashed, prayer books ripped, candles broken into pieces... The police have also found signs that the vandals had the intention to put the church on fire but had not succeeded.
The popular Irish singer, Sinead O'Connor used social media to warn the Pope that if he comes to Ireland, there "would be a bloodbath". The singer posted the threat on her Twitter account after a poll was conducted on whether the Pope should visit Ireland. Previously, in 1992 during a TV show, O'Connor tore a photo of John Paul II into pieces and called him evil.
In Postgasse, a fancy Vienna downtown street, a graffiti was placed on a residential house saying: "Pig Christians destroy the world", signed with a anarchy symbol.
Homosexualist websites are boasting of victory in an ongoing campaign to induce PayPal, one of the world’s largest payment processing companies, to eliminate pro-family Christians from its service.
„Borgia“ TV series produced by the French TV channel "Canal+" in association with EOS Entertainment and distributed by Beta Film GmbH, used holy symbols for promotional advertisements in a profane way.
In the night from the 18th to the 19th of September, unknown perpetrators cast a paint bomb on a welcome poster at a Church in Berlin.
A 16 year-old admitted being responsible for the desecration of numerous graves in Schönau on the 17th of September. He had knocked over memorial candles and gravestones, and had pulled out a wooden cross and destroyed it.
The Christian pro life group "SOS Tout Petits" was attacked by pro-choice and anti-Christian activists during a manifestation in front of the Paris Hospital Tenon while praying peacefully.
France banned prayers from the streets beginning September 16th, 2011. The measure mainly aims to target Muslims and their Friday prayers. In support of the new regulation the French Minister, Claude Gueant, affirmed that prayers on the street are unacceptable in a secular country such as France, and police force would be used in case of disobedience. Marine Le Pen, a right-wing French representative, speaking of Muslim prayer meetings, described prayers on the street as a "Nazi occupation". The consequences of a regulation also undermines freedom of religion of Christians, with regard to traditional Catholic processions as well as street evangelisations and outdoor liturgies. It is unclear to the Observatory, whether there will be exceptions granted to such initiatives under the new law.
A new study has found that Google and other major social media sites such as Facebook have “actively” censored Christian and conservative viewpoints. The report examined the policies and practices of several major Internet-interactive “new media” communications platforms and service providers, including Apple and its iTunes App Store, Facebook, Google, and others.
Postal workers in Jersey refused to deliver audio recordings of St Mark’s Gospel after deeming it “offensive material”. Several churches clubbed together to pay for 45,000 CDs to be produced to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. A copy of the recording was due to be delivered to every household on the Channel Island of Jersey. But church leaders were left reeling after Jersey Post claimed that the CDs could offend people and refused to deliver them.
A welcome poster for pope Benedict XVI upon his visit to Germany in September 2011 was removed in Fürstenwalde (Oder-Spree) after an anonymous caller said that „something would happen, if the posters were not immediately removed.“
Twenty graves and tombstones have been desecrated in the small village of Buxy in Burgundy. The 2,000 residents of Buxy and their mayor are shocked and incredulous, the police has opened an investigation.
The Saint-Michel Catholic church of Dijon has been smeared on during the night on September 13th. The mayor’s office quickly responded by clearing out the inscriptions. One could see a scored of cross and read «No Gods, no Masters».
The homepage of the Irish Catholic website was hacked and replaced with a blue and white screen which read “Site off-line. You. Got. Taken”. The hacker’s message went on to say “And wish you to continue beliveing [sic] in your false religion”. and: "Gotta love false hope."
The Dublin based Christian Think Tank Iona Institute received a threatening phone call in September: The anonymous caller said the Institute was “scum”, that its director “David Quinn should be castrated and hung up on O’Connell Street”, that they had “the nerve to portray your “f**king religion”, and that the people at the Institute were “filth”.
The Irish Government is „set on passing a law that will require priests to break the seal of confession if they hear about child abuse in the confessional.
On a protest against the USA and the UK in London on September 11, a group of Muslims marched through London. A sign was carried which read "Jihad to Christian Extremists".
A member of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s government is calling for a ban on marriages at Christian churches if they refuse to also perform same-sex unions.
According to new guidelines from the Dutch national doctors association, doctors with moral objections to euthanasia have “a moral and professional duty” to refer patients to another doctor willing to euthanize them.
A radical atheist group called „What the f...“ released a video on youtube in which crosses are being destroyed with much violence and hatred.
A reparative therapy conference, which aims to help people who struggle with same sex attraction, was denied to use of the Medical School Foundation (UM) facilities in Poznan, Poland. The conference, featuring psychologist Dr. Joseph Nicolosi of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), received criticisms from Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, and it was after them that UM decided not to host the event. Gazeta Wyborcza highlighted that the American Psychological Association (APA) has concerns about the effects of treatment for same-sex attraction.
American embassy officials under the Obama administration complained that the Catholic Church teaching is a major source of “homophobia” in the heavily Catholic country, according to private cables published by Wikileaks.
‚Advice UK’, the largest support network for free advice centres in the UK, has pushed out a Christian debt counselling charity from its membership for offering to pray with clients suffering from debt problems.
Churches which refuse to conduct gay marriages should be stripped of their licence, according to Member of Parliament Mike Weatherley of Hove. While marriage between people of the same sex is not legal in the UK but civil partnerships were introduced in 2005 to give couples the same legal protection as if they were wed. Mr Weatherley said according to „The Argus“: “As long as religious groups can refuse to preside over ceremonies for same-sex couples there will be inequality. “Until we untangle unions and religion in this country we will struggle to find a fair arrangement.”
Several French theaters have scheduled Romeo Castellucci's play "Sur le concept du visage du fils de Dieu" (On the concept of the face of the son of God) or "Golgotha picnic" to be on their stage this year. The play "Sur le concept du visage du fils de Dieu" depicts in the 2nd act a group of children throwing grenades onto a large image of Jesus displayed in the back of the stage. After Jesus is "stoned", the 3rd act shows the same image on Jesus being torn apart while the words "you are (not) my Shepherd" are displayed.
„Golgotha Picnic“, a theater play written by Rodrigo García, abuses mercylessly Christian icons and Bible passages in brings them in the proximities of terror and barbarism. Christ is called "el diablo puto" (the f... evil); money notes are placed at the Jesus' side wound; burger bread covers the floor as a parody of the multiplication of the loaves; and a piano player, totally naked, ridicules the “Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross” by Haydn.
A political campaign supported by a social media campaign advocated the removal of the tax exemption granted to the Catholic Church. The supporters of the proposal claim that the Church money would help Italy to overcome its financial crisis, and would therefore make other governmental spenditure cuts unnecessary. The Catholic Church properties are exempted from tax because of the community service they provide and the social function church buildings serve. In the fall of 2011, the issue was dropped.
Volker Beck, member of the German Bundestag (parliament) and speaker on human rights issues of the Green party, has launched an initiative to engage the German Medical Association against the German Union of Catholic Physicians (BKÄ). On their website, the BKÄ provides informations about therapeutic options in case of unwanted same-sex attraction.
On August 21st a crucifixion group was defaced with black paint in Wassenberg-Myhl by strangers.
Belfast's Gay March 2011 was (again) marked by anti-Christian offensive signs. One sign read: “Jesus had two dads (and he turned out just fine)”. Another protester bore a placard that said “Jesus protect me from your followers”.
A UK Christian electrician who won a fight with his employer over his right to display a small Palm leaf cross in his van is now saying that the company has reneged on its agreement. 64-year-old Colin Atkinson was asked by his employers, Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) in West Yorkshire, to remove the cross after an anonymous complaint from a WDH tenant. The company threatened Atkinson with disciplinary action when he refused, but backed down when their threats prompted a public outcry and criticism from prominent religious leaders, including the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey.
In the first year after the centre-left’s victory at local elections, local politicians decided to prohibit the traditional Ascencion Day barbeceue – at which „Crostine“ and „Salamelle“ (special Italian sausages) have been indispensable for decades. The reason was that Ascension Day took place during Ramadan. Not to offend the Muslim minority, the local government decided to serve only water melon instead of the traditional barbeceue.
The Swiss club of immigrants Secondos Plus demands that the Swiss Cross be removed from the flag of Switzerland because it "didn't correspond anymore to the multicultural Switzerland of today." As alternative, they suggest to go back to the national flag of 1799 which contains green, red and yellow stripes.
A demonstration against the Catholic Church and the visit of the pope during the major Catholic event of World Youth Day, resulted in the young Christian visitors be booed, spat and shouted at. Several World Youth Day participates were physically attacked, one had to be treated in hospital for being kicked in the stomach. Eight anti-pope demonstrators were jailed.
A hospital in London that recently attempted to force two Christian nurses to commit abortions has backed down after legal threats using the Equality Act to protect the nurses pro-life beliefs.
New guidelines issued by the UK pharmaceutical regulatory board tends towards stripping pharmacists of their right to conscientious objection with regard to refusing the sale of the morning-after pill, an abortive device.
Vandals started a devastating fire in the parish church of Saint-Lucie in Begijnendijk (Flemish Brabant). They entered the church through a window and put fire to the curtains and chairs. The damage is significant and the church was closed for several weeks.
On May 31st, 2011, Catholic Care of the Diocese of Leeds has applied for leave to appeal the latest decision against it in the long-running case sparked by the Charity Commission’s refusal to allow it to prevent gay couples from using its adoption service. The appeal was granted in August 2011.
The office of Johannes Bucher, the European Regional Director of Human Life International’s (HLI), was attacked after a pro-life march in Salzburg, Austria. The office suffered seven broken windows, causing thousands of Euros in damage.
The cemetery of Champniers and its surroundings were vandalized at the end of July 2011. Crosses were tossed, and statues of Marie damaged, flower pots thrown to the ground.