The National Bank of Slovakia announced that the European Commission, the union’s executive arm, had ordered it to remove halos and crosses from special commemorative euro coins. The European Union finally gave in- the coins are to be minted as planned.
The chapel Notre-Dame de la Roche in the area of Rhône, which is a regional pilgrimage site, was vandalized and profaned in November 2012. The chapel was restored in May 2013.
On the 29th of November 2012, the inside of a church in Gotha, Germany, was desecrated. The perpetrator(s) also vandalised the Organ. This was reported by the Apostolic Nunciature of Germany.
Between July and November the Holy See reported cases of desecration to graves in the following places: ·27 July 2012 Herzberg ·26 October 2012 Duisburg (NRW) ·9 November 2012 Unterrath (Düsseldorf). ·13 November 2012 Güdesweiler (Saarland)
In Daaden on the 27th of Nov 2012 the parsonage of the church was devastated and a relique of St. Georg stolen.
On the 27th of November 2012, St. Alban’s church in Mainz was broken into and defiled. The perpetrator went into the sacristy and mindlessly hit everything he saw. This was reported by the Apostolic Nunciature of Germany.
On the 27th of November 2012, a Church in Daaden (Siegen) was broken into. The perpetrators desecrated the rectory, vandalised the church, and stole a relief of St. George, which is feared to be destroyed. This was reported by the Apostolic Nunciature of Germany.
The adjoining building of a parish in Madona was set on fire on November 23rd 2012, the perpetrator was not found.
Between the 22nd and the 23rd of November, 2012, a church was broken into in Globarice, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The perpetrator(s) stole money, a chalice with consecrated hosts, and a monstrance with consecrated hosts.
Dutch artist Jeff van Weereld's piece “The Holy Truth“ on display in Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, Scotland in November 2012, depicts the pope aroused, wearing a swastika shaped cross, and with his hands on two young boys. The artist claims to reflect „four facts“ of the Church: “There is high incidence of paedophilia, the pope did spend a good part of his formative years in the Hitlerjugend and the Wehrmacht, the church is friendly to the outside, but not necessarily within the hierarchy and they do tend to cover up things.”