Forty shots were fired in what was termed a quarrel between rival smuggler gangs at the Grande-Synthe refugee camp near Dunkirk. David Michaux, a CRS anti-riot officer from the Unsa-police union, told Le Figaro: "There is a real problem between Muslims and non-Muslims. Most of the camp's 3,000-odd occupants are Muslim Kurds from Iraq, Iran and Syria but a minority are Christians from Iran." He went on to say "The Muslims are trying to expel the Christians from the camp."
Thieves have stolen three silver ciboria, chalices and the contents of collection boxes from the Corpus Christi church.
On the 23rd January, Deputy Mayor Marcel Galli discovered that the Sainte Marie Madeleine de Plan-de-Cuques church (of the Marseille diocese) had been smeared with tar on three facades, with many circles painted on the walls, and large lines were drawn on the ground. The large wooden doors of the entrance to the church and the sacristy, the surface of the front porch, and entrance hall were also damaged by tar.
Assyrian refugees hope to be housed apart from Muslims in the future camp near Stuttgart due to conflicts and threats.
“The situation in refugee camps, especially in Berlin is very dramatic”, said Pastor Gottfried Martens of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Berlin. Around 1.000 refugees from Iran, Afghanistan and the Arabic world visit his community.
In a series of emails to a French blog, Pastor Daniel O. described the beatings, stabbings, disappearance, and presumed murder of an Iranian Christian at the Grande-Synthe refugee camp.
Mallorca Gay Men's Chorus dressed as nuns in a concert for the celebration of St. Sebastian, patron saint of Palma de Mallorca.
Twenty figurines in the Nativity scene installed in the church of Chamaret were beheaded.
A theft occurred in the Church of Notre Dame de Quézac, sometime between Thursday, January 14th and Friday 15th. A ciborium, a gold sacred vase containing a hundred consecrated Hosts, was stolen from a tabernacle, a small wardrobe. The police have opened an investigation.
Saint-Jacques church, located in the city center, was the target of vandalism by unknown perpetrators.