As they left the church in Saint-Epvre in Nancy after Sunday services. parishioners were confronted with a feminist manifestation taking place right in front of the steps of the church. The activists were shouting hate slogans and vulgarities towards the people leaving the church, including young children.
Christian nursery educator, Sarah Mbuyi, was dismissed from her job after "gross misconduct" for saying that marriage is an institution between one man and one woman in conversation with a colleague. In an employment tribunal hearing, witnesses testified that Christian views on the topic should not be expressed in the workplace.
Several statues in the St. Petronilla Catholic Church in Pregny-Chambésy were profanated and damaged.
A pastor’s wife order for bouquet of spring flowers was blocked when she had tried to use words: "Thank you for your care and practical help for Margaret in her last days... With love from her church family, Christ Church Teddington". She was confronted with an on-screen warning: “Sorry there’s something in your message we can’t write.”
The German Christian pro-life group Jugend für das Leben ("Youth for Life") organized a demonstration on the Odeon Square in Munich followed by a Holy Mass at the University Church. The demonstration had previously been registered and approved.
Four Islamists from France attempted to commit terrorist attacks in Bremen in the Cathedral of St Peter, a Gothic cathedral adjacent to the Renaissance town hall, in a synagogue, and on a lively square. A massive deployment of police thwarted their plans, but the would-be attackers managed to escape.
The City of Joigny and Fr. Romain Tavernier, a parish priest, submitted two complaints for acts of vandalism and theft which had taken place in two churches.
Unknown assailants vandalised the church of the Mystery of the Resurrection in Emmaus in Czestochowa. The perpetrators drew satanic signs on the facade of the church.
The French news channel BFMTV reported statistics about problem of the profanation of cemeteries in 2014. In its morning news, it reported that 206 cases were in Christian cemeteries, in Jewish cemeteries there were 6 cases, and in Muslim sites there were 4 cases. By its lunchtime news program, the channel had ceased to mention "Christian" cemeteries, instead, the phrase "municipal" cemeteries was used. References to Jewish and Muslim cemeteries were unchanged.
Several graves in the cemetery of Matoury, French Guiana (15 km from Cayenne) were intentionally vandalized.
Unknown perpetrators have committed various degradations and profanations in the main town of the resort of Châtel in Haute-Savoie. The statue of Our Lady of Skieurs in front of the church was the main target for the vandals.
Christian symbols on graves were vandalized in the cemetery of the town of Tracy-sur-Mer in Calvados. Unknown perpetrators vandalized dozens of crucifixes and displaced them. The Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve expressed his outrage and promised that "every effort will be made to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of these outrageous acts that violate our values and respect that seals our community".
Inside and outside the Catholic church of Saint-Marcel Delémont was vandalised by offensive graffiti. The perpetrators are suspected to have been anarchists or leftists.
The church of Saint John the Baptist in Lecce was vandalized. A statue of the Virgin Mary was spray painted in red and graffiti saying "God is a transgender" and that "Priests are pedophiles" was painted. Other graffiti clarified that the reason for the attack was the pro-family conference organized the previous week by organizations "Se alla famiglia" and "Alleanza Cattolica". Offending graffiti also attacked a judge and former deputy Minister Alfredo Mantovano, who spoke at the pro-family event.
A church was vandalized and desecrated in Friedrichshafen in Baden-Württemberg. The Catholic community of the parish of St. Peter Canisius of the diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart was very much in shock.
In his statement after the murder of 21 Coptic Christians by Daesh in Libya, President Hollande did not mention the word "Christian" or that these people were killed by Islamic State for their Christian faith at all, but he merely referred to the victims as "Egyptian citizens."
In a response to the repeated, severe acts of vandalism which have taken place in ten French parishes during the last few weeks, the bishop of Bellay-Ars ordered that the Eucharist should be removed from all parishes and chapels of his diocese.
Mona Sahlin, the national coordinator against violent extremism at the Swedish Ministry of Justice, stated during a panel discussion on religion and democracy that Ellinor Grimmark, a Christian midwife who refuses to participate in abortion, was an "extreme religious practitioner who is fighting in a similar way as do the people fighting for the Islamic state.”
Five French churches were the victims of theft, vandalism and desecration within three days at the hands of unknown perpetrators.
According to the police, a 24-year-old student was first verbally insulted and then severely beaten by two attackers on his way to his student dormitory, solely "because of his Christian faith." During the assault, the offenders put a knife to the student’s throat. Security staff intervened, but the two perpetrators escaped by car.
According to the local sources, twenty graves were vandalized in the downtown cemetery of Severan. The unknown perpetrators were exceptionally brutal toward Christian symbols that adorned the graves. Police is investigating.
In Stockheim (in the diocese of Augsburg) an arson attack took place in Protestant St. Michael's church. The fire was discovered by the sexton of the church who together with his wife managed to extinguish the fire in the altar area. Despite their efforts, according to the police report, the fire spread to the rest of the church. The couple was taken to the hospital for the observation. According to a police report, there is evidence of intentional vandalism, even though religious motivation has not yet been publicly confirmed.
The Ministry of Health in Croatia vowed to ensure abortion in all public hospitals, regardless of doctors' conscientious objection. According to the Ministry every public hospital must have a team that performs abortions. This policy came as the result of the discovery of five hospitals, in which gynecologists refused to perform abortions based on their right to conscientious objection.
Politician Mark Holleman had to withdraw his candidacy for appointment as the environmental and health officer for Munich, despite being the favored candidate of the City Council, because of his membership in a pro-life group as well as in Christian Solidarity International.
Protesters demonstrated against the "violation of parents’ rights in education" of their children.150 parents were attacked by about 600 left-wing radicals who threw eggs, fireworks and bottles into the crowd of demonstrators. A 15 year-old girl had to be taken to the hospital. Police intervened.
The interior of the Protestant Church of St. John's in Plauen (Saxony) was vandalized with fire extinguisher powder. The total damages are estimated at 10,000 euros.
The Daily "Traunsteiner Tagblatt“ of Bavaria reported on January 12, 2015, an incident of vandalism in the Miesenbacher Kapelle in Ruhpolding (Chiemgau). Vandals threw blessed liturgical candles around and hit a statue of the Virgin Mary with a statue of the baby Jesus, breaking the hands of the Jesus figure.
An incident of desecration took place in the chapel of Barbizon, near Fontainebleau. Vandals broke open the door of the tabernacle, which is the place where the consecrated wine and host are kept. Both religious items, which carry significant meaning for Catholics, were thrown on the ground. Nothing was stolen.
A Croatian journalist was reprimanded by her professional association for calling abortion murder in an online article. While anti-Christian expressions are generally accepted as "a matter of style“, her Christian-inspired opinion was not tolerated.
A statue of the Virgin Mary was vandalized by a group of North-African immigrants with a Muslim background, according to locals. The parish priest of St. Barnaba, Fr. Alessandro Scarda, recounted: “They broke the statue in two pieces, and they then kicked it as if it was a ball. Afterward, they urinated onto the pieces.” The people of the parish gathered the remains of the statue, cleaned and glued them. The small statue was put back at its original location. The parishioners have gathered to pray at the statue after the vandalism. The police are investigating to confirm the identity and the background of the perpetrators. Muslim organizations and public figures have condemned the act.
Unknown perpetrators profanated a tabernacle. A chalice and consecrated hosts were stolen. Police was notified about the devastation, but the perpetrators remain unknown. The following Sunday morning Mass in the church had to be moved to the neighboring town of Dagneux. The Notre-Dame-des-Marais church had to be closed for five days.
While entering the church, a Moroccan-origin Muslim was yelling in Arabic phrases from the Koran. Then he destroyed five religious statues and other religious objects in the church causing severe damage. Eventually, the 67 years old male was arrested by the Police and is now facing criminal charges.
Lifesize statues of a calvary scene behind a church in Cabourg (Calvados) were vandalized in the night between December 31, 2014 and January 1, 2015. The statues of Mary and St. John were over thrown and found lying on the ground. The statues had been recently renovated.
A woman of the activist group Femen disrupted the nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. The topless woman had ‘God is a Woman’ written on her torso. She stole a figurine of baby Jesus which had been unveiled by the pope the day before. The woman rushed to the manger in the center of the square, grabbed the Jesus figurine, and raised it above her head while shouting slogans against the Catholic Church. Police intervened.
The Nativity Scene at the parish church of St. Wandrille in Pecq was severely vandalized by unknown perpetrators. The Holy Family and the cradle were stolen.
The Church of St. Hilary of Berry-au-Bac in Aisne was devastated by vandals. The perpetrators have not only stolen valuable things, but also vandalized, defiled and profaned holy items of the church, including the church's tabernacles. The vandals remain unknown.
Four children and one teenager rioted at a Christmas service at Our Lady’s Catholic church in Rheydt close to Mönchengladbach. They entered the service and yelled: „Scheiß-Christen“ (shit Christians). Several news outlets reported that the congregation had identified the youth as young Muslims.
An old wayside crucifix with corpus was cut down with a motor saw in Groß-Enzersdorf, Lower Austria. A Muslim of Egyptian origin whose property was located close to the cross said that he it had „annoyed him“. The cross had been a destination for pilgrimages for over 60 years.
When Cardinal Schönborn was about to read the gospel in the liturgy of festivity of December 8th in St. Stephan’s cathedral, a performance artist stepped in front of the altar for a minute of silence dressed in read. Afterwards he marched out of the church together with about 20 activists to hand out leaflets picturing a nacked nun eating icecream to protest celibacy. Police investigate on grounds of a violation of freedom of religious practice.
The image of Virgin Mary was completely destroyed by a fire in the chapel of San Sebastian Hospital in Palma del Rio. Evidence suggests that the fire was intentionally caused by arsonist, because nothing else got burnt. However, the mayor reminded people that it may have been the result of an unfortunate accident due to wiring. Many local faithful could not stop tears, because the image, an object of faithful adoration, was one of the oldest in Palma del Rio.
Local Parliament in Kreuzberg district of Berlin states that "The district office agrees upon a principle that, there is no permission to be granted for the events of religious communities in the public space". As a result, the previously called "Weihnnachtmarkt" (Christmas market) is from now on to be called "Winterfest" (winter festival).
A group of people organized a campaign against building religious schools in Spain and painted slogans "Your education - our destruction” on walls of the church of Santa Monica in Rivas Vaciamadrid. Moreover, some protesters in green jerseys (as a symbol of public schools) broke into the church with praying people to express their opinion. Local right-wing party PP decalred that it was another example of the radical atmosphere in the town.
An activist of the feminist group “Femen” climbed the altar in Strasbourg's cathedral topless and waved the EU flag. The words “Anti-Secular Europe,” were written across her breasts, and “The Pope is Not a Politician” on her back.
The cementry of the Martyrs of Paracuellos del Jarama was vandalized by Spanish group Femen which is famous for physical and verbal agression against Christians. Activists carried signs such as "STOP20N” (the expression for not celebrating the date of death of famous Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and supporting his rule). They also wore slogans "No celebrate fascism” and "Stop fascism canonizing” on their bare torsos. People declared Femen's protest as act of an desecration of the sacred place. http://infocatolica.com/?t=noticia&cod=22550&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=NoticasTw&utm_source=infocatolicatw
New Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch Thor has reiterated her call for the introduction of a conscience clause, which would enable medical staff to refuse to carry out abortions.
71-years-old Bryan Barkley was dismissed from the British Red Cross after his one-man protest in front of his church holding a placard saying “No same sex marriage” and “No redefinition of marriage”. His views were found incompatible with the principles of impartiality and neutrality of Red Cross.
The Spanish museum of modern and contemporary art exhibits a rather peculiar piece: matches with a sign reading “The only church that illuminates is a burning one". This slogan had also been painted by vandals on the walls of the churches all over the country. The matches also say: "Contribute!" and there is a picture of a church in flames on the box of matches.
A graffiti in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Albanian National Army (AKSh) appeared on the gate of monastery Visoki Decani in Kosovo on 13th October early in the morning. Another such graffiti were found on some of the buildings inside the compound of the medieval monastery protected by UNESCO.
An international conference about human rights and human trafficking in Sweden and Europe was cancelled three days before it was supposed to take place by the Uppsala University. The reason was an article published in the Swedish newspaper "Aftonbladet" exposing Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers, and their President, Mrs. Ruth Nordström, as a defender of unborn life and freedom of conscience.
In the early morning, unknown men pushed and lit a garbage can in front of the entrance of the Church of St. Anthony in Lichtenberg in Berlin. The fire spread to the oak door of the church. Fortunately, firefighters could prevent the fire from spreading. Nevertheless, the entrance area of the church had been badly damaged.