After a group of parents sent a letter of complaint, the school's headmaster suspended the Malicornay teacher. The teacher will remain under suspension pending an investigation into whether he was proselytizing in violation of secularism laws or simply studying the texts with the students. The city's mayor has denounced the suspension as extreme.
Councilman Javier Botella of Levatemos El Puerto officiated at a wedding of his childhood friends in a priest costume. He was wearing an F.C. Barcelona scarf as a stole and a black cassock with golden edges. He posted a picture of himself and the newly married couple on Facebook and was immediately criticized for ridiculing the Church and the sacrament of marriage in his public capacity.
Michael Overd and Michael Stockwell were convicted on February 28, 2017 after a public prosecutor claimed that quoting parts of the King James Bible in the context of modern British society "must be considered to be abusive and is a criminal matter". After a four-day trial, the men were found guilty under Section 31 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, for using "threatening or abusive words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress, thereby, and the offence was religiously aggravated."
The government announced that sex and relationships education will become compulsory in all of England's schools. Relationships education will be compulsory for all pupils from the age of four years, but parents will have the right to withdraw their children from sexual education program. Critics view the law as weakening the influence of parents' right to educate their children about sex and relationships.
A trainee Church of England priest at Oxford University, an Iranian-born convert from Islam, claimed he wasn’t allowed to ask critical questions about Islam during a seminar and has accused the university of discrimination and bias and made a formal complaint.
The Polish prosecutor's office began an investigation of a theater play that contains a scene of an actress simulating oral sex on the statue of Pope John Paul II, and other sex scenes involving crosses. Another scene hints at murdering a top PiS (Law and Justice) party leader.
In May 2017, the British Pharmaceutical Council published new professional standards, stating that pharmacists would have to “take responsibility for ensuring that person-centred care is not compromised because of personal values and beliefs.” The previous conscience "opt-out" provisions were removed. Previously, a pharmacist who did not wish to issue an abortifacient drug could refer the patient to another colleague. In June 2017, the Council developed new guidance called “In practice: Guidance on religion, personal values and beliefs.” This guidance made clear that in some circumstances, pharmacists were expected to dispense a drug against his or her conscience.
Fr. Arturo López, 77, was brutally beaten by three masked men during an assault on February 22, 2017 at the rectory of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church in Coslada, a city in Spain's Community of Madrid. The three unidentified men assaulted and tied up Fr. Lopez after they entered his rectory to steal valuables and money.
When asked about why the new logo did not contain the cross, the federation's communication director said the removal of the cross in the center of the original logo was a "non-subject" and there was no particular reason for its removal, and that it never had a religious character to begin with.
The group made the recommendation to a parliamentary inquiry to examine how to reduce the size of the Upper House. The House of Lords currently has more than 850 members, and the Bishops' Bench contains two archbishops and 24 bishops who can vote on legislation.
The Spanish Observatory against LGBTfobia filed a hate speech complaint on February 20, 2017 against Archbishop Francisco Javier Martínez for a homily delivered on February 12, 2017 in which he criticized gender ideology in the education of children. The complaint accused the bishop of promoting "hate speech against LGBT persons."
A parliamentary group in the Congress of Deputies presented a proposal calling for broadcasts of Mass on public television be prohibited, which they ask to be considered/debated by a commission that oversees RTVE, Spain’s public television station, and its affiliates.
According to reports, some time during the night of February 18-19, 2017, unknown perpetrators damaged and scattered around 30 gravestones in a cemetery in the prefect of Dunkirk. Many of the damaged plaques appear to be from Christian graves. Police are investigating.
After complaints by the group Libre Pensées (Free Thought), a statue of Notre Dame de Granitiers commissioned by the Diabète Coeur association, is prohibited from being displayed in the forecourt of the church of Brusvily because it is considered a public place. The Church and State Separation Act of 1905 prohibits the display of religious objects in public places. 72% of readers of a local newspaper objected to this decision.
The National Assembly passed a law which bans pro-life websites which attempt to discourage women from having abortions if the sites do not openly state “who they are, what they do and what they want.”
After the town council decreed that the cross outside the "Torre de Guardiola" fortress was erected in commemoration of General Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War, it was ordered removed in compliance with the Historical Memory Law of 2007. Critics of this move note that the plaque linking the cross to Franco had already been removed.
The statue known as "La Pleureuse" (the Mourner) was stolen from the cemetery of Saint-Germain-Lembron. Police are investigating.
The British Humanist Association sent a letter to the BBC demanding that its publicly-funded "Thought for the Day" Radio 4 program, which includes reflections from Christians and other faiths, also include non-religious speakers.
The external walls of the parish of San Francisco Javier in Murcia were painted with threatening messages such as "Arderás como en 36" (You will burn like in 36; clear reference to the burning of churches during the Spanish Civil War) and also "Highway to hell".
During the night of February 11th and 12th, unknown perpetrators broke a door and vandalized the church of Saint Etienne de Réguisheim and vandalized the nearby cemetery, as well.