The Swedish Court of Appeals concluded that a Jehovah's Witness was discriminated against on the basis of his religious convictions by the public Job Center (arbetsförmedlingen).
Between 16 and 20 March, 2017 during the night, 32 graves - mostly Christian - were excavated and searched. Officials presume the perpetrators were looking for valuables. A thorough inspection of the cemetery of 15,000 graves, on about ten hectares, was carried out. Surveillance of the premises was strengthened.
Freedom of Information inquiries made by the Network of Sikh Organisations revealed that the London Metropolitan Police recorded 1,227 incidents of Islamophobic hate crime in 2016, but in 57 of these incidents the victim was not contacted, in 86 the religion of the victim was unknown, and 85 of the reported cases were ‘blank’. 19 Hindus, 11 atheists, 43 Christians and four Sikhs were victims.
The Basilica of the Mare de Deu dels Desamparats was vandalized with offensive graffiti on the walls and black paint thrown on the mosaic of the Virgin Mary over several days, beginning during the night between March 11th and 12th. Citizens, as well as the Archbishop, denounced the acts.
Police in Givisiez arrested a 46-year-old woman and her 27-year-old son for the theft of donation boxes from a chapel in Bulle and two churches in Freiburg.
Aberdeen University students petitioned to have a pro-life poster removed from campus, claiming it was “actively harmful” to women. The Catholic chaplaincy on the campus displayed posters for a 40 Days of Life event, featuring people holding signs and prayer vigils outside the city’s maternity hospital during Lent.
Hundreds of posters were hung around the El Raval neighborhood of Barcelona encouraging Muslim men to take Christian wives, saying that they were permitted and encouraged to marry "honest and chaste women of the Book" (meaning Christians) for the purpose of increasing the population of Muslims in the region. The posters read "Brother, join in alliance with a Spanish woman, teach her that Islam is the only true religion. Islamic law dictates that the fruits of this alliance will follow Islam, which will further strengthen our community." It appears these posters are part of the "right-to-return" movement to "Restore Al-Andalus" -- that is, Muslim Spain.
In early March, the legal advocacy group Ordo Iuris and several student organizations invited Rebecca Kiessling, an American pro-life speaker, to give speeches at several universities in Poland. While all of the universities had initially agreed to hold the events, they abruptly cancelled the events or modified the format, after leftist groups protested.
Officials were called when smoke was seen coming from the church of Bettembourg. When they arrived they found a man had set fire to flags inside the church and had destroyed statues and other objects. Motive is not clear and an investigation is underway.
On March 14, 2017, the European Court of Justice put employers' interest in "neutrality" above employees' exercise of religious freedom in a landmark judgment. The Court ruled that employers can prohibit the visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign in the workplace.
At the request of the Association of Christian Lawyers, the prosecutor's office initiated a criminal investigation of the performance of a "drag queen" dressed as the Virgin Mary and then as Jesus Christ during the Carnival celebrations. The office stated that because Carnival is so closely related to the Christian observance of the beginning of Lent, the performance was intentionally offensive to religious feelings. The Bishop's Conference called it "blasphemous."
In the evening of March 12th, firefighters were called to the Church of Saint-Luc after unknown perpetrators set fire to the outside wall of the church using combustible materials they had placed against the outer wall. The fire was described as "intense," but firefighters, police and two CRS buses arrived quickly and were able to subdue the fire and minimize the damage.
The Church of the Immaculate Conception was vandalized and the victim of arson on March 12th. Father Eloi Legrand, calling it a profanation, reported that the altar linen was set on fire, candle wax spread on the altar and throughout the church, and items of devotion were broken and scattered in the church. The gendarmerie have found a small hand print and Father Legrand filed a complaint.
A 30-year-old man was arrested after police were alerted. He was found with cash and tools used to retrieve money from the boxes: a long rod with double-sided tape.
The Local Police Hate Crime Unit in Palma is investigating various acts of vandalism committed in recent months against several churches in the Balearic capital.
The Ximo Puig Government in Valencia created obstacles for the hiring of new teachers of religion by introducing new certification requirements. One affected teacher said, "three weeks ago, on the spot and without written notice," the Ministry of Education of the Valencian Community informed the Archbishopric of Valencia that all new teachers of religion must have the CAP (Certificate of Pedagogical Attitude ), or to have completed a Master's Degree in Teacher Training in Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, Vocational Training, and Teaching of Languages. This is in addition to the certificate known as DECA (Document of Ecclesiastical Suitability), provided by the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
School children in Dos Hermanas, Seville, were prohibited from celebrating their usual children's Holy Week procession by the regional government. The government claimed it cancelled the event because of time constraints, but parents of the affected children insist it was cancelled due to a complaint by a secular association.
The Izquierda Unida (United Left) coalition in Seville wishes to change the coat of arms of the city as they say that its image is "not a representation of democracy" in the 21st century. Currently, the coat of arms is an image of King Fernando III, canonized as a saint, flanked by St. Isidore and St. Leander. The word "Mariana" also appears on the shield, added by Franco to represent the city's devotion to the Virgin Mary.
The Mayor of Zarazoga and the local coalition government prohibited the Firefighters to continue with their tradition to celebrate Mass in their firehouse for the feast of San Juan de Dios.
Sven Egil Omdal, a veteran journalist and editor who currently works as a commentator for newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad, noted that Sylvi Listhaug, Norway’s government minister in charge of immigration and asylum issues, had been wearing a cross necklace much more often than in the past. “Am I claiming that she uses the cross as a political statement to appeal to that strange group who thinks that fear of foreigners is a Christian virtue?” Omdal queried on social media. “Yes, that’s basically what I’m doing.”