The Passion Trail set up by the Evangelical Lutheran parish in Hagen-Haspe has been demolished. The path, which was lined with crosses and prayer texts, led along the forest path at Tücking.
On April 16, Brussels officials issued a police order to ban the entrance to the NatCon conference. The official order to shut down the conference included the reason that its "vision is not only ethically conservative (e.g. hostility to the legalisation of abortion, same-sex unions, etc.) but also focused on the defence of “national sovereignty”, which implies, amongst other things, a “Eurosceptic” attitude”. In an emergency ruling, Belgium highest court has lifted the ban and declared it unconstitutional.
In its judgment on Tuesday, April 16, the High Court of England and Wales dismissed a Muslim pupil's challenge to a ban of 'prayer rituals' at Michaela Community School in Brent, north-west London. The High Court judged that publicly funded schools in England can impose such bans of communal prayer rituals among students. It is not yet clear in how far Christian prayer will be affected by the ban.
The grave of the late Patriarch Neophyte was desecrated in Sofia, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church informed Tuesday morning, April 16.
On Sunday, April 14, five adolescents entered the Saint-Etienne Cathedral in Metz during a concert of Bach, one of them interrupting the concert and shouting "Allah Akbar". The teenagers then fled but were found and arrested by the police.
A 28-year-old Tunisian Christian convert was beaten and robbed for 'attending Christian church'. According to media reports, the man was attacked on the evening of November 12, 2023, in the Ponte San Giovanni district of Perugia by some fellow countrymen, while he was walking with a friend. Now the police have issued three pre-trial detention orders for crimes committed with the aggravating circumstance of religious discrimination.
Shortly after 6 pm, a 41-year-old man started shouting complaining about an alleged theft of a backpack. According to the police, he then entered the church in Via Felice Bellotti, the San Benedetto Monastery, in Milan’s city centre and started to hit commemorative wreaths and a statue, which he threw to the ground. The police intervened against the intoxicated man, who was charged with a criminal offence.
In the afternoon of April 13, a statue of Jesus was stolen from the Easter crib in the Consolation Parish in Via XX Settembre in Genoa. The first scene of the Easter crib displayed Jesus entering Jerusalem on the back of a donkey.
The German national security forces have unearthed a terrorist cell of minors in Düsseldorf. According to the newspaper Bild, the youths wanted to attack "Christians ("unbelievers") in churches" and "police officers in police stations" with knives and Molotov cocktails in the name of the ISIS. Arrest warrants have been issued.
On April 11, Ahmed Alid, an Islamist extremist, stood trial at Teesside Crown Court, Middlesbrough, for murder of a pensioner and attempted murder of his housemate Javed Nouri, a convert to Christianity. According to the prosecutor, Alid considered Nouri an apostate and “therefore somebody who deserved to die”. The incident happened last October.
On April 10, a young man threw several bottles filled with alcohol against the façade of the Catholic Sacred Heart Church in Diez during the church service at around 6 p.m, causing heavy soiling and property damage.
At the church of Castelvecchio di Compito in the Lucca region, a 37-year-old man stole objects worth over 10,000 euros from the oratory, which included liturgical objects dating back to the early 19th century such as two candelabra and a wooden canopy. He set fire to the parish premises and fled.
The administrative office for foreigners of Central Franconia, Germany, has issued a deportation order for an Iranian convert. According to the media, the lawyer of has confirmed the conversion to Christianity of the Iranian asylum seeker. The lawyer also said that his client had been warned by his mother not to return to Iran because otherwise he would be arrested.
The church of St. Athanasius monastery in Tetovo has been broken in, all the windows were broken and serious material damage was done.
During mass on Monday, a pickpocket stole a purse containing about 100 Euro and the woman’s phone in the church of Sant'Aniello Abate in Cosenza. The theft happened while the woman was praying.
According to the religious freedom watchdog organisation Forum 18, Archbishop Viktor Pivovarov has become the fifth person to receive a criminal conviction for criticising Russia's war in Ukraine from a religious perspective. On April 8, he was found guilty of repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces after condemning the war as "aggressive" and "Satanic" in his sermons.
On Saturday, April 6, unknown persons set fire to a memorial table of the Church in Roßwein and damaged the donation box.
Two Children, one of them a 12-year-old boy, set a fire to the Serbian Orthodox Church of Our Lady in Feldkirch causing considerable damage. After searching the unlocked donation boxes for cash, they set the cloth at the altar in the back of the church on fire endangering liturgical objects.
Burglars broke into St. John's Cathedral in Den Bosch, smashed stained-glass windows, emptied a fire extinguisher inside the building and stole a time capsule intended to be opened in the year 2122.
A fire broke out in the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Agneaux on Thursday afternoon, April 4. According to police investigation's initial findings, the fire was intentional.
In the Church of St. Maksymilian Maria Kolbe in Bogatynia, a Mission Cross was chopped down over night.
Within 24 hours two fires hit the Saint-Serge Church in Angers. On April 2, the altar of the chapel of the Virgin Mary was set on fire. On the next day a fire broke out in front of the Saint-Ambroise statue. A suspect women was spotted and arrested by the police.
Rivertown Church in Shotton was subject to vandalism. Eggs were thrown at the rear door. Previously, glue and dog excrement were smeared on the same door. Furthermore, the church has seen damage to both locks and seats inside. In light of the church’s effort in running a community hub, the incident appears very distressing to volunteers and the church community.
In an unusual case, a secular civilian court has issued a ruling against the Vatican’s in-house canonical procedures in the case of the dismissal of a French nun from her order and has sparked discussions on religious autonomy. On April 3, the Lorient tribunal ruled in favour of a nun who turned to the French court after being removed from a monastery in Brittany. The Vatican replied in a written statement that such a ruling on "internal discipline and membership in a religious institute" would be a "serious violation of the fundamental rights to religious freedom and freedom of association of Catholic faithful."
On April 2, the parish priest of the St. Anthony's Oratory in Porto Mantovano, Trento, found the oratory severely vandalised. Next to smashed locks, broken doors and glass, damaged objects and furniture, there was dirt, a swastika and offensive writings on the floor. The incident, was only the latest in a series of vandalism attacks on the oratory. The priest therefore reached out to the community for help.
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 came into force on April 1, 2024. The Act could criminalise expressions of religious convictions, religious and human rights groups fear.
On March 31, a stole, procession flags and clothing were stolen from the Roman Catholic Church of the Assumption of Mary in Scheinfeld, Germany. The perpetrator was apparently hiding in the confessional during mass before stealing the objects. The man also damaged the confessional, which caused damage of approximately 200 euros.
A 38-year-old disrupted the Holy Saturday celebrations at the All Saints parish in Jastrzębie-Zdrój. Entering the altar area, he loudly shouted vulgar words from the pulpit. When being asked to leave the altar stage, he attacked one of the liturgical servants as well as a police officer during arrest.
An Egyptian man with links to ISIS has been arrested over a suspected terrorist attack on the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris, as became known in the media on March 30. The man was arrested on March 5 by officers from the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI). Thanks to the work of the domestic intelligence services, the terrorist was identified, arrested for "criminal terrorist association" and placed in pre-trial detention.
In the night from Good Friday to Holy Saturday, unknown perpetrators removed a banner from the fence of St Sebastian's parish and stole it. The campaign slogan: "Never again! - Strong together for democracy and against right-wing extremism!" Investigations are ongoing.
In the night of Good Friday, two churches in the Portuguese towns Golegã and Pombalinho were subjects to theft and vandalism.
An unknown person damaged the altar in the Catholic Church in Neuhaus an der Pegnitz, Germany, on Good Friday, March 29. According to the police, the perpetrator apparently "held a candle to the altar in such a way that the wood and the altar cloth were damaged". Fortunately, the fire did not spread.
In the night before Maundy Thursday, Easter crosses and the noticeboard of Baptist St John's Church in Alresford were vandalised.
On 22 March, a terrorist attack targeting an event location close to Moscow resulted in the deaths of at least 137 people. Gunmen armed with automatic weapons opened fire during a crowded concert at Crocus City Hall. ISIS statements claiming responsibility for the attack boasted of “killing Christians”.
On the morning of Thursday, 21 March 2024, a fire broke out in the church of Saint-Agathe and Saint-Julien in the village of Saint-Julia. The canvas burned and when the mayor, Christian Lagente, entered the church at around 10 am, everything was engulfed in smoke. The mayor made the first attempts to extinguish the fire before help arrived.
A bust of Christ was vandalised and the church door damaged in Church of Saint-Germain in Rennes. The vandalism was discovered by the parish priest, Father Philippe Hebert, on March 20. The priest lodged a complaint the next day, investigations are ongoing.
The church of San Giuseppe, in Melito Porto Salvo, in Reggino, was desecrated by unknown individuals. The perpetrators damaged the security cameras, forced entry into the church, stole the consecrated host and scatter the others. Furthermore, a sacred vessel was also taken.
An unknown person set fire to a seat cushion and a shrub that were placed in the front area of the church in Eisenharz for the upcoming First Communion. The fire was extinguished by an employee, but the pew and shrub were damaged. Fortunately, no one was injured.
On March 19, the church Jana Pawła Street, Konstantynów, was vandalised. The perpetrator kicked a cross, damaged three windows and knocked over tables, pews, and kneelers. The cost of the damage amounts to PLN 5,000.
On Tuesday, March 19, a fire extinguisher was emptied into the pipes of the organ in St Peter's Church.
Victoria Culf, a Christian artist, was reported to police and banned from her own exhibition after telling a Watford council worker, back in June 2023, that due to her Christian world view and as a mother she didn’t think children should transition. She is now taking legal action.
On March 16, the cemetery surrounding the church of Bovekerke (Koekelare) was vandalised. Approximately a dozen statues, ornaments, flowers, and memorial plaques had been destroyed. The affected graves are not all close together and often involve very old concessions. According to another resident, some crosses have also been removed from the graves.
A radical muslim graffiti was spray-painted on the windows of Southchurch Christian Fellowship Centre on Saturday night, March 16. The graffiti, which read "This is a Muslim area", is now being investigated by Essex Police as racially aggravated criminal damage. Ms Champion, who discovered the vandalism, said: "To see someone committing such hateful behaviour is so heartbreaking. It makes me very angry. A colleague and I went to the church to remove the worst of it because we didn't want people to feel intimidated when they came to the Sunday service the next morning."
A woman was attacked by a burglar when entering Saint-Étienne Cathedral for mass on March 16.
While the choir was practising in the early evening of March 15, various donated items worth £1,000 were stolen from the St Matthew’s Church in Burnley. However, the vicar Father Alex Frost, reaches out to people in need offering help in response to the theft.
The pastor of the Protestant church in Marktrodach discovered human excrement behind the altar in the afternoon of March 15. The perpetrator is unknown, but it appears to be a repeat occurrence. The police reported that this was not the first instance of such an act in the church.
For the past few months, incidents of vandalism and damages have occurred in the Neuer Markt church in the Herford district. The pews have repeatedly been pushed and knocked over, a curtain has been torn down, a large sign reading 'open church', which is usually located at the back of the church, has been removed and placed on the altar and leaflets removed from their displays and scattered around the room. Furthermore, there have been complaints in the past about unknown individuals leaving their excrement in the church. Although the number of incidents has decreased, faeces are unfortunately still occasionally discovered in the church.
Baek Kwang-Soon, a South Korean pastor was detained in Russia on espionage charges after being found to have been working with North Korean fugitives in Vladivostok. According to Lee Seong Gu, head of the Global Love Rice Sharing Foundation, Baek had been doing missionary work and providing clothes, food, and the Gospel to Russian, Thai, and North Korean workers in need. Baek was arrested earlier this year by Russian law enforcement authorities, as reported by Russian state news agency Tass on Monday, March 11.
During the night of March 11, acts of vandalism were committed in the cemetery of the village Clermont-d'Excideuil. Inscriptions with Islamic references were found on graves, the war memorial, the church door, a calvary memorial, and a fountain. Some of the tags read "France is already Allah's", "Isa will break the cross" and "Submit to Islam". Altogether, more than 50 graves were smeared.
The Lindenberg police department has solved a series of acts of vandalism that have kept the communities in the West Allgäu region on tenterhooks over the past few months. A total of 18 church doors and church façades were pelted with eggs by unknown persons during this period. The eggs were often painted black or labelled with red letters and numbers.
In recent weeks, unknown persons have stolen or vandalised five works from a church art project at the Heiliggeist Church Bern.
San Benedetto church in Brindisi was found smeared with red paint. The ancient portal and another entrance of the church were smeared, and "Palestine" was written on the stairs.
An unknown man physically attacked a priest of the Diocese of Bačka of the Serbian Orthodox Church while he was performing regular parish duties on the street in Novi Sad. The perpetrator quickly walked away and escaped.
As reported by the Catholic News Agency on March 5, Fr. Custodio Ballester, parish priest from Barcelona, and two other individuals received a summons from a provincial court in Spain in February to answer charges of an alleged “hate crime” for criticising Islam. The charges were initially brought in 2020, when Catalonia's public prosecutor claimed that Fr. Ballester's 2016 article entitled 'The impossible dialogue with Islam' met the criteria of a 'hate crime'. If convicted, Ballester faces up to three years in prison and a fine of more than EUR 1,500.
In the early hours of March 3, the walls of the Sant Antoni Abat parish church have been smeared with red paint. The church is declared an Asset of Cultural Interest. The Sa Pobla Local Police have accused a group of six young people of the vandalism.
On March 1, an unknown perpetrator damaged the staircase in front of the Catholic parish in Waldsee, Germany, rendering it unusable for the public.
Russian authorities have implemented significant restrictions that interfere with Christian Orthodox funeral rituals during Navalny's burial. Many fear further violations of the right to manifest one's religion or belief by hindering the religious funeral ceremony.
Early on Friday morning, March 1, St Matthews Church in Berlin was the scene of several fires. The police suspect arson.
A prayer gathering conducted by "40 days for life" outside an abortion clinic was violently disrupted and the participants were threatened by a group of activists.
On February 29, a resident of Fresselines, on his way to the family crypt, discovered the unprecedented vandalism in the Creuse cemetery. Unknown perpetrators had desecrated around 40 graves: between some graves plates had been moved or broken, pots had been thrown to the ground. Some slabs had also been unscrewed and piled up on the ground. Stelae and plaques had been broken or moved.
In a landmark ruling the European Court of Justice has decided that a conversion to Christianity after the flight should be recognised as grounds for asylum if the applicant can credibly demonstrate that he has changed his religion out of "inner conviction".
As reported on February 28, the walls of the Virgen de los Remedios Church in Pliego, Murcia, has been defaced with graffiti. The church, dating back to the 18th century, is a cultural asset. Two young people, one of them a minor, are suspected of the vandalism.
On February 26, the confessional in the Catholic Church of the Holy Cross was destroyed in a fire. According to the investigating authorities, a statue of a saint and a storage room were also damaged. A fire expert ruled out a technical defect on Friday, March 1, so the criminal investigation department in Neustadt is assuming arson.
On February 26, thieves broke into the church of the Madonna dei Sette Dolori in Vasto and stole offerings from the donation box. The perpetrators furthermore left human excrement on the floor of the church. The parish priest expressed his shock and disgust about this gesture of degradation and disrespect.
The car belonging to Father Marcos was destroyed in an arson attack outside the church of Francolise near Caserta. The mayor has condemned this incident on social media.
On February 25 a Serbian Orthodox priest was physically attacked in Prizen. The attack took place as a bus of pilgrims from central Serbia arrived at a seminary Prizren where they wanted to attend the liturgy. The suspect parked his vehicle nearby and displayed a "KLA" flag on the front of the bus. He then verbally attacked and provoked the pilgrims. The priest, who was also on his way to the liturgy at the seminary, advised the pilgrims not to respond to provocations and to enter the Seminary as soon as possible. At that moment, the suspect physically assaulted the priest by pushing him, bending his arm, and attacking him.
On 24 February, an unknown person attempted to poison Father Felice Palamara, the parish priest of San Nicola di Pannaconi, by adding bleach to the altar wine. Police suspect the local Mafia behind the attack.
Islamist graffiti was discovered on roadside “calver” stone crosses saying "Tomorrow this will be the land of Islam". this is not the first time: on Christmas night, Islamist vandals wrote "Allah" on the cross, and the other day they found the inscription "Today is the land of infidels".
Between February 17 and 20 Spjellerup Church in the Danish region Sjælland was severely vandalised. The police believe that a perpetrator had emptied two fire extinguishers in the church, targeting the organ and the altar.
Unknown perpetrators broke into the parish church of St. Johann in Tirol, Austria, and stole and damaged religious objects. The figure of Christ was broken off a wooden cross.
Unknown people damaged the church on the Dreieichenhain castle grounds. According to the police's initial assessment, the historic side door was forced open with brute force. At the same time, the perpetrators broke a window to the right of the main entrance. This is not the first time there has been vanalism to the church.
Shortly after an anti-AfD (Alternative for Germany Party) demo took place on the forecourt, “Allahu Akbar” was daubed in Arabic script on the Protestant Pauluskirche in Hamm, Germany. In response to a news inquiry, the Hamm police confirmed the graffiti on February 20. However, no information can yet be provided about the perpetrator's profile. The investigation is ongoing.
A taxi driver from the German town of Essen was fined for displaying a small Bible verse sticker on the rear window of his car. The city authorities claim that the Bible verse constitutes "religious advertising", which is illegal on taxis which are regarded as part of the public transport.
Unknown perpetrators set fire to the parish church of St. Lambertus in Kalterherberg on Sunday. In the rear area of the interior of the church, prayer books, a shelf with parish letters and sheets from the Book of the Dead were set on fire in front of the wall with the memorial plaques. Opposite, at the Marian altar, the burning memorial lights were thrown down and artificial flowers were also lit.
The stone pinnacles from a church gate were stolen on the weekend of the church's 180th anniversary.
During the night of February 17, the Major Cloister of St. Francis was smeared with spray cans in several places. The monastery has already been targeted several times by vandals.
Unknown perpetrators spray painted the St. Martinus Church door with "666", "shame" and a swastika symbols in white paint. Police are currently investigating.
A unknown perpetrator tried to break a window of the Catholic Mariä Himmelfahrt parish church to presumably get into the building. Awakened by the noise, the priest who lived in the house discovered the attempted break-in and spoke to the unknown person, whereupon he immediately fled on foot towards the train station.
Unknown perpetrators daubed the walls of the Loosdorf parish church with the words “Religion of Lies”. On another wall vandals had sprayed the words “Sol invictus”, meaning "undefeated sun god".
In Dordogne, four large public crucifixes in separate towns were defaced with references to Islam sometime between December 24, 2023 and February 15, 2024. Two of the crosses were located on the side of the road in Saint-Pantaly-d'Excideuil, the two others in Cherveix-Cubas. One cross, built in the 1800s in a village of 146 people, had the word “Islam” and a crescent moon sprayed on it. Another inscription read “Allah”. Yet another cross was spray-painted with, “Today is the land of infidels, tomorrow the land of Islam.”
The stations of the cross, that are usually installed in the forest between the old to the new cemetery of St Stephan's church in Amstetten, Austria, have been vandalised. Some of the wooden crosses were torn out of the ground and destroyed.
The roadside shrine in Włocławek has been vandalised for the third time within two weeks. A statue of Mary has been taken out of the shrine and destroyed. The broken pieces were left on the floor.
Fire was set repeatedly in the outdoor area of St. Bartholomäus church in Götzingen. Further, the unknown perpetrators stole, among other things, prayer flyers and sacrificial candles from inside the prayer house and set them on fire on the stairs to the sacristy.
Unknown people rioted in the St. Ägidius Church in Grafing. Several prayer books were thrown to the ground, the microphones at the altar were tampered with and an elaborately decorated Easter candle was broken. The material damage is estimated at around 300 euros. The police are currently investigating.
During the night between February 10 and 11, unknown perpetrators vandalized the church of St. Ägidius in Grafing. Several prayer books were thrown to the floor, the microphones on the altar were tampered with and an elaborately decorated Easter candle was broken. The material damage is estimated at around 300 euros.
On February 10, strangers left a message on the walls of the parish church of the Roman Catholic priest Father Pablo Pich Aguilera which could be translated into Spanish like this: “We are watching you, Pablo. We will abort.” The text is signed by Arran, a youth group of the Catalan separatist left.
Rev. Dr. Patrick Pullicino, a neurologist and Catholic priest has been vindicated by the General Medical Council (GMC) after a three-year investigation for allegedly giving a bias opinion due to his 'pro-life values'.
Unknown persons went into the St. Franziskus-Xaverius Churchin Eiterfeld and broke open a wooden interior door. “According to current information, nothing was stolen,” the police said. However, the property damage amount to around 1,000 euros.
Between February 6 and 7 a window of Dettelbach church, which is located on a pilgrimage route, was smashed. According to a police report the perpetrator climbed the scaffolding in order to do this. The damage is estimated around 500 euros.
In the Church of the Heart of Jesus, a fire broke out during where the wooden floor was burnt. The police suspect an arson attack. The loss is estimated to be 5,000 euros.
Metropolitan Police officers have been filmed threatening to arrest a Christian preacher over allegations of a breach of a Public Space Protection Order. A video posted on social media showed a group of at least five officers demanding the names of evangelists due to allegations of a hate crime after they had been preaching and reading from the Bible.
Sacred objects were stolen from the Sant'Antonio Abate Church of Lonno. On February 2, the parish priest Roberto Zanini found the tabernacle damaged. Upon further inspection he noticed that two sacred oils and two small relics were stolen in addition to the statuette and tabernacle being damaged.
A couple who specialised in stealing from churches has now been caught and convicted. In 2014 the couple had stolen various religious objects in broad daylight from dozens of churches in the west of France. Once stolen these sacred items were sent by mail to England before being sold.
The cross of the 7th Century Vankasar Church has been found removed on pictures circulating online.
On February 5, vandals attacked the church of Notre Dame in Fontenay-le-Comte and broke two statues. The local Catholic community is deeply shocked about these acts.
In the course of a series of vandalism attacks, the St. Joseph Church in Schalke has also been targeted. The perpetrators threw projectiles through the stained windows destroying four windows, breaking a door and two gates.
The Church of St. Achillius of Larissa was vandalised on the eve of the reading of the synodal circular of the Orthodox Church of Greece on the bill to legalize gay marriage. Unknown people wrote slogans on the ground and walls directed against the Orthodox faith and Metropolitan Jerome personally.
Priest Don Giovanni Rigoli's car was set on fire by an unknown perpetrator. This happened after the celebration of a funeral in the parish church of Santo Stefano.
A man entered Saint Jean-Baptiste church and violently attacked the statue of John the Baptist using a crucifix. The statue, made of plaster, was completely broken and the crucifix was badly damaged.
On January 31, unknown perpetrators entered the Sacred Heart Church in Sorghof, Germany and used candles to burn a hole in the upholstery of a prayer stool. Further, they also destroyed the reading glasses the church had kept there for a churchgoer.