
A fire that broke out on 25 January 2026 in the courtyard of Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina in Rome, initially investigated as a separate incident, has since been linked to deliberate arson.

A 29‑year‑old man attacked a woman selling candles and set fire to a church in Braşov, Romania, in an incident reported late January.

In Donetsk region, Ukraine, a skete of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra was targeted in a theft and act of vandalism during the night of 24–25 January 2026, resulting in the theft of bells and sacred objects from the religious site.

A theft at the Église Saint-Winoc in Plouhinec, Finistère, was reported on 25 January when the cross from the church’s main altar was removed by unknown perpetrators, parish authorities confirmed.

In January 2026, the Vienna Administrative Court ruled that a peaceful prayer vigil held in the proximity of an abortion facility in Vienna falls within the scope of the constitutionally protected freedom of assembly. The decision overturned an earlier prohibition issued by the Vienna police authorities.

The Metropolitan Police blocked a UK Independence Party “Walk With Jesus” march scheduled for 31 January in Whitechapel, east London, citing fears it would provoke a hostile reaction from the local Muslim community and lead to “serious violence and disorder.”

A statue of the Virgin Mary was found to have been deliberately knocked over and damaged on 21 January 2026 inside the Église Saint-Sylve in Toulouse, where the parish priest discovered the overturned figure after the morning Mass.

On the morning of 19 January 2026, an unknown individual set fire to a liturgical missal inside the Chiesa del Monserrato in Alessandria.

On 18 January 2026, vandals defaced the rear façade of the Iglesia de Santiago el Burgo in Zamora with a slogan: “More housing and fewer churches”.

All Saints Church in Buncton, West Sussex, suffered extensive damage after almost all of its windows were smashed and fixtures vandalised between 13 and 18 January.