A huge cement cross erected over a beach in honor of people who have drowned there was torn down by unknown perpetrators during the night of October 7th. The NGO "Coexistence and Communication in the Aegean" had previously called the cross "offensive" to non-Christian migrants, a symbol of "racism and intolerance," and claimed that it had been placed above the beach to prevent refugees and migrants from swimming there. Local residents reacted with dismay and discussed re-building it.
Vandals tore down a huge 30 kilo metal memorial cross from the cemetery next to the pilgrimage church in Marienbaum. Father Jeremias Kehren, pastor of the church, expressed the shock of the community and called it an attack on the cemetery and those who mourn there: "The wickedness with which this memorial was desecrated leaves us speechless."
During the night of October 4th, unknown vandals sprayed "Tot dem deutschen Imperialismus" (Death to German imperialism") and a hammer and sickle symbol in red paint on the Bremen Cathedral. The Otto von Bismarck monument was also hit with red tags. Bremen police began an investigation.
A man, who broke into the sacristy of the Sant'Amanzio church in Piazza SS, was sentenced to two months in prison on April 22nd. Two nuns had caught him in the act of trying to break open the room where the liturgical vestments are kept. Due to his suspicious actions, they followed him, alerted a police officer, and he was subsequently caught.
A draft of abortion legislation provided that doctors, nurses, and midwives who have a conscientious objection to abortion must refer their patients to another provider who will perform the abortion. The National Association of GPs (NAGP) voted to "advocate for conscientious objection, without obligation to refer" and for an "opt-in" system, where medical professionals register their willingness to perform the procedure, rather than an "opt-out system.
The Diocese of Osma-Soria reported on October 2nd that the church of San Esteban in the town of Masegoso was vandalized, but nothing was stolen. In Soria on September 22nd, thieves entered the hermitage of the Virgin of Ulagares and stole the money donated by the faithful, as well as religious objects of low value and some construction tools. The civil guard began an investigation.
On September 26, 2018 an 81-year-old priest was assaulted by two homeless men he sheltered in his home in Denain. The priest was awakened by noise at around 2:00 in the morning and discovered the men trying to steal his television. The men, who the priest had been sheltering and feeding for a few days, attacked him, threatened him with a kitchen knife, and tied him to his bed. After he shouted, the perpetrators fled but were soon identified and captured by the police. On October 1st, they were each sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.
The evangelical Schlosskirche in Winnenden was hit with graffiti between the 29th and 30th of October. The entire west side exterior of the 14th century church was sprayed with slogans like "Satan 666," "666 an die Macht" (666 to the power) and "stay high." The pastor said a special process would be required to remove the paint from the sandstone walls.
An attack on the freedom of conscience of doctors and medical staff was launched on the 27th of September in the French parliament by socialist senators including former Minster of Families Laurence Rossignol. They want to remove the specific conscience clause for doctors covering abortions, because it is already covered by the Public Health Code.
Unknown perpetrators set the Santi Innocenti Martiri di Montesilvano Church on fire on September 26th. This was the second fire at the church within a week and was committed while investigations into the first fire were underway by the carabinieri and the fire brigade. The entire central nave was enveloped by the fire that traveled along the entire right side to the sacristy and the meeting room. Even the roof collapsed, making the supporting structure completely unusable, according to reports. "There are people who, despite our willingness to meet them, even publicly said they did not want the church. With today's gesture, the work was completed as if they wanted to finish what they had not been able to do last week," said Father Rinaldo, the parish priest.
A 40-year-old unemployed man was sentenced to 7 years in prison on September 25, 2018 for the arson of two churches, St. Jodok in Ravensburg and St. Martin in Schlier. The incidents occurred in March 2018, which we reported at the time. The fire at St. Jodok church in Ravensburg caused at least two million euros in damage.
The mayor of Ayna (Albacete), Emiliano Rodríguez, disguised himself as a priest to perform a civil wedding ceremony in the town of Castilla-La Mancha. He wore a cassock with a large cross hanging around his neck and carried a small book like a bible in his hands. While the socialist mayor claimed it was a private event not intended to offend anyone, the stunt was widely criticized. The parish priest of Albacete wrote on social media, "As a priest I protest vigorously. Please respect my faith." (Como sacerdote protesto enérgicamente. Por favor, respete mi Fe).
Only ruins were left of the Kiihtelysvaara Lutheran Church after a 29-year-old set fire to one of Finland's oldest wooden churches in Joensuu. The arson was discovered in the morning of the 23rd of September.
The summit cross on Garlaban hill, loved by the Aubanais people and symbol of the city, was covered with red paint.
Members of the Finnish Parliament voted 100–60 against a motion of no confidence brought against Catholic Foreign Minister Timo Soini on September 21st. Four opposition parties, the Green League, Left Alliance, Social Democrats and Swedish People’s Party, brought a motion of no confidence over Soini's attendance at pro-life vigil while on an official trip to Canada in May.
A fire was set with flammable liquids at the iron entrance door of the church of Santa Domenica in Isola Capo Rizzuto on September 20th, causing blacking of the door and adjacent wall.
Police completed a forensic investigation of an explosion in an events hall owned by the St. Afrem Syrian Orthodox Church. The hall, rented from the church for events such as parties and wedding receptions, was empty at the time of the explosion. Police said the explosion was the result of a homemade incendiary device, but have not identified a perpetrator.
Police began an investigation of vandalism at the war memorial at a Catholic church in Bischofsdhron, a few days after a Way of the Cross was damaged nearby. Several stone slabs were knocked out of their foundation causing an estimated €400 in damage.
Six masked men entered the medieval Rozhen Monastery at about 8:00 pm on September 18th. They assaulted and tied up the priest who was present and began digging into the wall behind the iconostasis in the monastery church with picks and spades. After about 30 minutes, they left the monastery without taking anything except the priest's mobile phone. The priest was reportedly unharmed but shaken by the incident. Security camera footage led to the arrest of some of the perpetrators.
An "identified suspect" damaged several windows with rocks at the St. Barnabas Church in Kenilworth on the 18th of September, causing thousands of pounds in damage.
Germund Hesslow, a neurophysiology professor at Lund University, is under investigation for "anti-feminism" and "transphobia" for telling his students there are biological differences between men and women.
Early in the evening of September 16th, a witness noticed smoke coming from the St. Michael church in Heroldsbach and contacted the authorities. Police discovered burning scraps of paper and initial estimates amounted to at least 2,500 euros in damage. After a criminal investigation, officials concluded that the fire had been intentionally set and asked for assistance from any potential witnesses.
In September 2018, in the night before the festivities of St. Hildegard, the slogans “F*ck the Pope” and “Deutschland den Muslimen” (“Germany to the Muslims”) were sprayed on the Parish Church in Eibingen, a district of Rüdesheim. Police and the State Protection Office are now investigating and believe the perpetrators to be German citizens.
The sacristan of St. Lubentius in Kobern discovered that several small fires had been intentionally set in the church. She observed that the altar cloth had been burned at the altar of the Virgin Mary, damaging both the cloth and the altar. A second altar and cloth, as well as the bible on the lectern, were similarly burned.
A 58 year old man confessed to setting a fire that heavily damaged the Johanneskirche am Lendkanal on September 15th. The altar cross, a gift of British soldiers and of great sentimental value, was missing after the fire but later found near the church.
Student Unions in Manchester, Warwick, and Liverpool rejected the Life charity's application to appear at their Freshers' Fairs. The Warwick Students' Union rejected Life because its members "voted to adopt a pro-choice stance." Manchester said the Fair was an inappropriate platform, while Liverpool said the charity would not offer "impartial advice" to students. Life said its displays inform students that help is available if they get pregnant. The charity filed a complaint to the Office for Students (OfS) citing discrimination and restrictions on freedom of speech. It noted that the Chair of OfS had earlier promoted the protection of freedom of speech.
Unknown vandals damaged elements of a Way of the Cross leading to the Fatima Chapel in Bischofsdhron sometime between the 12th and 14th of September. They perpetrators pushed three of the thirteen sandstone crosses from their bases and tilted back into the adjacent embankment. The crosses themselves were unharmed, but the bases were heavily damaged. Repairs were estimated at €600. Police began an investigation.
A man from Bristol whose membership to the Scout Association was cancelled took legal action, claiming he has been discriminated against on account of his Christian faith.
Police began an arson investigation after a fire broke out in a basement of the cloister of the Church of Santa Maria della Roccella. The flames affected some unused materials and various forms of waste that had piled up in a basement of the cloister. The fire brigade intervened and found four LPG tanks near the fire which they removed and secured promptly. Fortunately there was no damage done to the building and no one was hurt.
Police investigated a break-in between September 9th and 10th at the Protestant Church in Lörrach. Unknown perpetrators tried to pry open several doors, finally accessed the church building through an unlocked door. Inside they broke into the sacristy and a storage room, pried open two doors on the upper floor and ransacked several rooms.
During the night between the 6th and 7th of September, the door of the church of Madonna del Carmelo was set on fire. In the early morning hours residents became aware of the fire and extinguished it. The police investigated and found that the fire was started by lighting paper and plastic. The perpetrators damaged the base of the door and blackened the upper part. Fortunately, the flames did not spread into the inside of the church. The priest filed a complaint.
Unknown perpetrators vandalized the facade of the parish church in Gutau with red and black paint sometime between 6 pm and 10:45 pm on September 7th.
The president of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, wavered from his neutral position and backed the communists and government coalition parties' plan to tax outstanding restitution payments to churches and religious communities whose property had been confiscated during the communist regime. In a TV interview he said is was "angry" to some extent because church institutions have continued to demand compensation and filed complaints against municipalities despite the decisions that were made in the 2013 restitution laws.
A man was arrested after four stained-glass windows were smashed and other property was damaged at Chester Cathedral. The incident occurred just after midnight on September 4th and money was stolen from the premises. The damage caused to the cathedral is likely to exceed £10,000. The Cathedral's acting dean said the damage to the four stained-glass windows which date back to 1920 was very upsetting, in particular, the damage caused to a window depicting St. Werburgh, the Patron Saint of Chester.
Officers are treating the spraying of abusive graffiti onto the wall of the landmark late on September 6th as a "religiously aggravated attack." The language used was "too offensive to be published," according to media sources.
Sometime in the early morning hours of September 5th, vandals sprayed the anarchist "A" on the well-known monument. After city workers were unable to remove the paint using water, the monument's sculptor himself, Elías Rodríguez Picón, arrived to remove the paint. Local residents and officials expressed their outrage over the incident. Police began an investigation and reviewed security camera footage to identify the perpetrators of vandalism.
Parish announcements and a lectionary were burned in the small chapel Saint-Jean in the district of Péré, the lower town of Saint-Sever. Additionally, the monstrance was broken and a cross was thrown into a confessional. The vandalism occurred on the same day as the school fire of Toulouzette Park school in Saint-Sever. Police investigated a connection between the two incidents.
An appellate court ordered a rehearing by immigration tribunals after Judge Lord Glennie, one of the appeal judges, found that the asylum judges had disregarded churchgoer's evidence of the Christian conversion of two Iranian asylum seekers who have been attending Tron Church in Glasgow and had been predisposed to rejecting their claims.
A 35-year-old tried to pry open the door of the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Greiz at 22.35 Monday evening. A witness filmed him while doing it. The perpetrator fled the scene but the police was able to track him down and find him at home. He has been charged with attempted burglary. The same evening, at 17.30, several windows were damaged at the church in the Friedhofstraße in Greiz and there was an attempt to set fire to the wooden door. The police has started an investigation.
The Notre-Dame-de-France Catholic bookstore was vandalized during the night from the 2nd to 3rd of September. The perpetrators sprayed the word "FACHOS" ("fascists"), an anarchist A symbol, a communist symbol, and other words onto the windows and facade of the bookstore.
In the morning of September 3rd church staff discovered that the Alhem Church in Skellefteå had been sprayed with black graffiti, including "Jihad" and "Dead" with a Nazarene symbol for Christians. The police stated in a statement that they took this form of hateful attacks against churches very seriously, and that they do not equate them with regular hip-hop graffiti and so-called "tags."
The facade and windows of the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in la Plaza de Benimaclet were smeared with paint and graffiti and on the sidewalk in front of the church, the anarchist slogan "NI DIOS; NI PATRIA; NI AMOS" was written in paint. Local politicians expressed their regret, saying it was "dirty" and "damaged one of our most emblematic monuments." They also added that they are tired of "uncivil and intolerant people." A councilman in the city of Valencia, Alberto Mendoza, publicly denounced this act of vandalism and called for more security cameras to be put in place.
On the 31st of August, police reported that between August 17th and 30th, 2018 there were several incidents of vandalism in the Kirche St. Ludwig. Confessionals and offering boxes were damaged in the amount of 700 Euros. A church in Eyb was also vandalized between the 20th and the 30th of August. A window was smashed and several meters of copper sheets (window panels, gutters), valued at about 2000 euros, were stolen. The material damage was about 300 euros. The police began an investigation.
During the night from Thursday to Friday, 31st of August 2018, people broke into the Church of Our Lady of Simorre. The intruders cut the gate leading to the magnificent collection of objects kept in the sacristy using a portable deburring machine. In addition to that they burst the glass behind which rare valuable pieces, some of them dating back to the 16th century, were presented. The burglars were able to steal four 19th century objects before alarms went off and the thieves fled. The incident was reported to the police by the person in charge of opening the church the follwing morning. An inventory of the objects was undertaken and the premises was secured better than before.
According to reports, RTVE, the Spanish national public radio and television service, will stop airing a weekly Sunday Mass, ending a tradition of almost 40 years. Although it is the most-watched program on the channel, the decision was explained by the government, which presented the proposal in March 2017, as necessary to become a "neutral" public television station that does not favor any belief or religion.
A 49-year-old man was charged on suspicion of arson in connection with two fires that were set in Edinburgh in the early hours of the 28th of August 2018. One fire was set with a petrol bomb at 5am at the Sikh temple Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Sheriff Brae, which is situated in the building of a former church, and the other was set at 7am at the Methodist Church in Junction Place. No one was injured, but the temple suffered smoke damage. The man is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday, 30th of August 2018.
The rupestrian church of Saint Giuseppe Timpuni in Modica was defaced in the night by unknown people using spraycans. They thereby caused damage to an ancient building that can hardly be repaired.
Witnesses called the police at about 9pm on August 29, 2018 to report six teenagers throwing stones against the facade and windows of the building of the St. Simeon Lutheran church in Kreuzberg, Berlin. The group fled the scene crying "Allahu akbar!" According to the police the building was damaged. It is not the first time this church has been subjected to such acts. Furthermore, a window was broken the following Sunday. The chuch is a so-called "Refugee Church" as it has opened its doors to refugees and runs multiple projects to assist them. The police opened an investigation, assigning the department dedicated to politically motivated crimes.
On the night of the 21st of July 2018 after the light show "Rêve de Couleurs," on the facade of the cathedral, a drunk individual shouted "Allahu Akbar! Long live Daech! I will butcher you!" at all the people he met in front of the cathedral. He further threatened: "I'm going to attack! I'm going to blow up the cathedral!" A passerby who tried to interfere was slapped. The perpetrator has been identified as 19-year-old Tony Brébant from Reims who recently converted to Islam. He was sentenced to fourteen months in prison on the 28th of August 2018.
There was an act of vandalism in the small church of Madonna Addolorata di Lopi in the municipality of Castiglione del Lago on August 28th, 2018. The face of the Madonna in a seventeenth-century painting was smeared with black paint. In addition to that, the same paint was used to spray the small squares of the Via Crucis and blasphemous words were written on the walls of the church. The damage done to the painting of the Madonna cannot be repaired. The police were informed about the incident.