After a bitter two-year battle over whether decorating town hall entrances with nativity scenes violated rules on secularism, the country’s highest administrative court ruled that as long as the intent behind the installation was "cultural, artistic, or festive" - and not religious proselytism - it was permitted.
French politician and former housing minister Christine Boutin was convicted of hate speech on Wednesday by the Court of Appeals of Paris for having called homosexuality an “abomination” in an interview with the political magazine Charles in March 2014.
The Spanish media network SER launched a media campaign against a Catholic priest for posting a list of sins that preclude parishioners from receiving Communion until they have been confessed, calling the list a throw-back to old times.
The owners of Ashers Baking in Belfast lost their appeal of 2015 discrimination conviction for refusing to bake a cake ordered by homosexual activist Gareth Lee showing two Sesame Street characters and the message: “Support Gay Marriage.” The case was heard by the Supreme Court in May 2018.
Laurence Rossignol, minister of families, children, and women’s rights, has announced that the French government intends to introduce legislation to ban pro-life websites it judges to be 'extremist'. She plans an amendment to the current “Equality and Citizenship” law, which will impose penalties on owners of pro-life sites of 30,000 euro fine (£26,517/ $33,600) and two years in prison.
The Association calls for the removal of any references to God in the Constitution, and to any clauses that require public officials to swear a religious oath upon taking office.
Three of the bishops are being threatened with a criminal complaint for having written and published a condemnation of Madrid’s new “Law of Integral Protection against LGTBIphobia and Discrimination for Reasons of Orientation and Sexual Identity.” The fourth bishop is being criminally investigated for expressing support for the statement of the first three.
A Christian nurse was fired for "gross misconduct" by the NHS for talking to her patients about her faith and occasionally offering prayer to help them prepare for surgery. Part of her job was to help patients complete a questionnaire, which included a question about religion.
Rudy Salles defended the ban of the "Burkini" and said that the same ban would apply to Catholic nuns wearing habits on Nice beaches.
The Callosa de Segura town council voted to remove the cross in the plaza of the church of San Martin. Christian legal groups objected, noting that its presence poses no threat to anyone and that it is part of the town's historical and cultural heritage.
"Hart van Homo's" (Heart for Gays), a Christian charity that encourages celibacy for gay Christians, lost governmental funding after the ruling party argued that it sent the wrong message.
Gordon Larmour, a Christian evangelist, was charged with behaving in a "threatening or abusive manner aggravated by prejudice relating to sexual orientation" and "assault", after he referred to the Book of Genesis and stated that God created Adam and Eve to produce children in response to a 19-year-old's question about God's views on homosexuality. He spent one night in prison. Six months later, a court in Kilmarnock, Scotland acquitted him of all charges.
The new law bans preaching, praying, proselytizing, and disseminating religious materials outside of officially-designated sites, and authorizes fines for these activities conducted in private residences or distributed through mass print, broadcast or online media.
The president of Asturias Laica, Jose Luis Iglesias, has formally requested that the Mayor of Gijon, Carmen Moriyón, resign from office for assisting in the Catholic ritual of the blessing of the waters in the feast of San Pedro, the city’s patron saint, which was celebrated on June 29.
Cardinal Antonio Cañizares was accused of hate speech by the Feminist Platform of Alicante, along with 55 other LGBT organizations. They alleged that his homily was "full of hatred, homophobic and sexist." On June 23, 2016 he was cleared of the charges.
A Christian union has been banned from holding meetings on college premises, as a result of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy "Prevent".
In April 2016, members of the Green Party in Austria submitted a Parliamentary Question to evaluate possible actions to stop “pro-life” workshops in religious education.
Piers Morgan will not face sanctions after asking a Christian who opposed same-sex marriage whether he was a "homophobe".
A Christian magistrate Richard Page has been removed from office by the Lord Chancellor after sharing his personal conviction in a media interview that there is not enough evidence to show that placing children in the care of same-sex couples is in their best interest.
A peaceful manifestation by 4,500 supporters of Demo für Alle against a proposed education program was disrupted by counter-demonstrators, resulting in clashes with police and 18 people injured, including 3 police.
A Sheffield University social work postgraduate student, Felix Ngole, was expelled from his course for posting on his Facebook page that homosexual activity is against the teaching of the Bible.
In advance of a planned peaceful demonstration on February 28 in Stuttgart by Christian activists against a new school curriculum emphasizing gender ideology, the radical left group "Antifa" attacked the building owned by a financier of the buses provided for the demonstration.
A Paris court acquitted members of the radical feminist group Femen who had in November 2012 disrupted Catholic families peacefully protesting in defense of traditional marriage, topless with vulgar anti-church slogans written on their bodies and spraying fire extinguishers at the group.
Assyrian refugees hope to be housed apart from Muslims in the future camp near Stuttgart due to conflicts and threats.
FIFA, the highest institution in the world of football, censored a reference to Jesus by Ballon d’Or candidate Neymar.
A 19-year-old man told another refugee (18) that he was no longer a Muslim, but had become a Christian. The 18-year-old responded: "Then I will cut your throat. For this, I do not even need permission from IS. "
Network Rail, partly funded by taxpayer money, argued it was "overtly Christian" and that it would offend "multi-cultural values".
The Weser-Kurier in Bremen has refused to publish an advertisement of a local Evangelical church containing a bible passage.
School officials point to respect for the "multicultural character" of their student body as the reason.
The prohibition was imposed by a secular parents' association in Cantabria (Cantabria FAPA) when they announced the annual card-drawing contest.
The advertisement shows the Lord’s Prayer being recited by a members of the public ranging from bodybuilders to children.
The Department of Culture in Palma de Mallorca has reduced municipal funding for events during the week leading up to Easter (known as “Holy Week” or “Semana Santa”, famous for grand processions) to just 3.000 euros, and has not allocated any funding to the important Catholic feast of Corpus Christi (known simply as “Corpus”).
The march against abortion by more than 100 participants in Innsbruck was disrupted by counter-demonstrators.
The Association issued a "good secular conduct" handbook to local town officials to assist them in their decision-making about the installation of crèche and nativity displays.
Transgender politician, Martine Delaney, lodged an anti-discrimination complaint in September and on November 12, the commissioner announced it will begin investigation.
The City of Toronto is being threatened with legal action for refusing to grant a Christian group a permit to use a prominent downtown square for its annual musical festival next year, all because the city determined that singing the name of Jesus in the public venue contravenes city policy against “proselytizing.”
The correctional court of Angoulême (Bordeaux) convicted two men of “incitement to discrimination against a group of persons because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Reverend Barry Trayhorn, volunteering as a chaplain at a prison for sex offenders, recited verses from Corinthians which include homosexuality in a long list of sins, along with adultery, theft and drunkenness during a service.
A Christian disciplined by an NHS trust for praying with a colleague has won permission to appeal an employment tribunal’s decision against her.
More than 7,000 pro-life demonstrators took part in the March for Life 2015 in Berlin. About 300 of a total of 1500 counter-demonstrators attempted to block the march. Between these groups stood as many as 1,000 police officers.
Voicing criticism of homosexuality “might be breaking the law”, a British values monitor claimed.
The Zurich offices of the Swiss Evangelische Volkspartei (EVP) as well as the Swiss Evangelical Alliance and humanitarian organisations Tearfund and Opportunity were attacked by vandals.
The German left political party (Die Linke) is organising to disrupt the annual German "March for Life" for the protection of the unborn, the sick, and the aged that will take place in Berlin on the 19th of September. In response, the German Association for Christian Culture (Deutsche Vereinigung für eine christliche Kultur) responded that by doing so, Die Linke is threatening to infringe upon the rights to freedom of assembly and expression and noting that the law recognizes the basic human right to life from the moment of conception.
A city-run kindergarten in Vienna has fired a teacher because she “violated the kindergarten’s neutral stance on religion” by explaining that on Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. This was in response to the children's questions about the holiday. In the letter informing the teacher of the school board’s decision to fire her, one reads that city-run kindergartens “accompany children of diverse religious faiths as well as without religious faith; therefore the religious meanings of traditional feasts are not mentioned and must instead be replaced by other content (for example during advent by themes such as ‘family’, ‘friendship’, or ‘community’). You have not followed this approach, but instead informed the children several times … about the Christian meaning of Christmas”. The teacher explains, "I have answered only the questions of the children . . . I am a Christian, but not a religion teacher."
On 24th of May 2015, an Italian network called Sentinelle in piedi ("Standing Watchmen“) organized a protest against the proposed draft laws on "homophobia" and same-sex unions and expressed their dissenting views by standing for an hour in silence at over 100 public squares all over Italy. The reason for that is the belief that new laws, if approved, would curtail freedom of speech for Christians. Opponents used offensive slogans and provocative gestures, including simulating homosexual acts. The participants of the Sentinelle in piedi were partly hindered by the protests. Opponents were mostly LGBT activists.
A group of Muslims disrupted a Catholic procession in the Italian municipality of Conselice which was held in honour of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Reportedly seeing the procession as provocation, the group started to threathen and insult Catholics and claimed that the procession offended Islam. Participants were scared and shocked by this aggression.
A 10-year-old girl suffered a severe allergic reaction after an egg attack at a "No-Campaign" event in Meath, Ireland. "Yes-Campaigners" threw objects, including eggs, at people who were expressing opposition to same-sex marriage. "No-Campaign" leader Mr. Manning said that the atmposphere created by "Yes-Campaigners" was "toxic”.
Mothers and Fathers Matter, a group that urged people to vote “No” in May’s gay marriage referendum in Ireland, said there was a campaign of harassment and intimidation from those on the “Yes” side of the debate. Posters were torn and removed in Dublin and elsewhere at the beginning of May 2015. Pictures of this act have been celebrated as an "act of bravery" on social media.
Twice in one week, the Vatican website was partly inaccessible due to attacks from hackers. On Twitter someone named "Turk Hack Team Herakles" claimed responsibility, saying he would continue until the pope apologized for referring to a Turkish genocide against Armenians 100 years ago.
Christian nursery educator, Sarah Mbuyi, was dismissed from her job after "gross misconduct" for saying that marriage is an institution between one man and one woman in conversation with a colleague. In an employment tribunal hearing, witnesses testified that Christian views on the topic should not be expressed in the workplace.