Germany’s Ministry for Immigration and Refugees (BAMF) rejected many applications for asylum from Iranian and Afghan converts from Islam to Christianity, following “kangaroo court”-style hearings as to whether the conversions are genuine, according to a Berlin pastor.
Rita Maestre had been fined for removing her top inside a chapel during a protest against the "antidemocratic and chauvinistic" positions of the Catholic Church in 2011. On appeal, that decision was reversed as the court found that "inadequate clothing or certain inappropriate gestures" were "disrespectful but not desecration."
Abel Azcona stole more than 240 consecrated hosts from Masses celebrated in the cities of Madrid and Pamplona. He later took nude photos of himself arranging them on a floor to spell the word ‘pederasty.’ He was charged with an offense against laws respecting religious sentiments. However, on November 16, 2016, a judge dismissed the case against Azcona. In his ruling, the judge described the consecrated and stolen hosts as “small white round objects.” He claimed that there had been no desecration of the sacred hosts because according to the Spanish Royal Academy dictionary desecration is defined as “treating something sacred without due respect or using it for profane purposes.”
Swedish midwife Linda Steen objected to assisting with abortions for reasons of conscience and as a consequence public hospitals denied her employment. She sued the Sörmland county council for violation of her freedom of conscience and religion. After losing the case, she was ordered to pay 1.2 million Swedish krona for the city's legal expenses.
The NGOs AVC (Action on behalf of Persecuted Christians and the Needy), EMG (European Mission Society) as well as ZOCD (Central Council of Oriental Christians in Germany) and Open Doors announced the results of their research on October 17th.
Christian leaders and the Christian Police Union criticized the acquittal, noting that all of the witnesses were Muslims - many of whom helped the accused flee after the incident.
An unknown person threw a rock through the window of the Catholic church in Karlstad a week after the city's administrative board denied permission for the church to install CCTV cameras.
Donald Ossewaarde was arrested on August 14th as he conducted a bible study group in his home. He is first foreign missionary to be charged with violating Russia's law banning missionary activity outside officially registered church buildings.
The Catholic Church of Karlstad has been a repeated victim of attacks: Hate graffiti, inverted crosses glued on its walls, and broken windows. In 2015, Father Martin Ferenc, pastor of the church, filed no fewer than 15 police complaints. The police suggested that he install video surveillance cameras in order to identify the perpetrators. The priest therefore asked the administrative board to authorize their installation. The board rejected the application on the grounds that the church's interest in solving these crimes is outweighed by the individual's interest in not being recorded.
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.
A York jury heard evidence about sustained bullying of a teenage apprentice, a Catholic, by tying him to a cross in a mock crucifixion, among other acts, during a trial. They found the accused guilty of assault, but not guilty of religiously aggravated assault.
Muslim refugees at the regional office complained about having to sit in the waiting room with "impure Christians". Security staff responded by banning the Christians for six months.
Six Iranian Christian refugees were told by a security employee of the Tempelhof accommodation that they had an hour to leave because they were trouble-makers. Just days earlier, these six men had been threatened with beatings by 70 radical Muslim refugees for reading the Bible.
Numerous churches in the Turkish occupied area of Cyprus were profaned and turned into storage rooms, museums and mosques.
Almost 20 years after the war in the Balkans, there is still discrimination against Christians, especially Catholic Christians, in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Cardinal Puljic, Archbishop of Sarajevo pointed out the situation of Christians in his country during a visit to the international headquarters of the Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
The former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe pointed out the UK government's double standards in its threats to cut aid to countries which persecute gay people while turning a blind eye to persecution against Christians.
The lands surrounding the Syrian-orthodox monastery of Mor Gabriel, near Midyat in South-Eastern Turkey, have been expropriated by Turkey’s supreme court. According to the verdict, the treasury of Turkey has a right to claim the lands.
The Greek-Orthodox Church, school, and community in Turkey has been gradually stripped of rights by the Turkish government. European law organizations declare this a violation of human rights.
In a report released in September 2010, the Association of Protestant Churches details the fundamental problems faced by Christians in Turkey. Among them, the place of worship is a troublesome one.
Ongoing attacks against sidewalk-counseling pro life activists in Vienna filmed and published online.