On February 18th, an unknown person placed traffic cones on a soldier´s grave inside the churchyard of Saint Helen church in Northwick. The traffic cones have been removed from the grave.
Reza Karkah, an Iranian Christian, faces the prospect of imprisonment, torture and separation from his wife and child after the UK Home Office rejected his application for asylum on the basis that he was ‘fabricating’ his Christian faith.
Between the afternoon of February 15th and the morning of the 16th, an unknown person or group broke into and vandalized the Christ Church in Laxey. The incident disrupted the Sunday morning services. Police are investigating and searching for witnesses.
During the night between the 15th and 16th of February, an unknown perpetrator threw a paint bomb at St. MacNissi's Parish Church in Larne. The police treated the incident as a sectarian hate crime as they investigated and searched for witnesses.
On January 24th, the ACC Liverpool Group announced that it would no longer hold the previously-scheduled Graham Tour Event due to objections from LGBT activists over Graham's past statements about homosexuality. Graham responded by saying “I’m not coming to the UK to speak against anybody, I’m coming to speak for everybody. The Gospel is inclusive. I'm not coming out of hate, I'm coming out of love.” As of February 11th, the other venues that cancelled events were: International Convention Centre Wales in Newport, Glasgow SEC, Sheffield Arena, Arena Birmingham, and Stadium Milton Keynes.
The relic of British Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890), canonised only last October, was stolen from his chapel in Birmingham. “Sadly, the only piece of bone thought to have been St John Henry’s was stolen from its casket in the Newman Shrine,” read a notice in the Oratory’s February newsletter. The Fathers have appealed for anyone who had seen any suspicious activity to come forward.
Judge Brian Doyle, the President of the Employment Tribunals in England and Wales, has re-opened an investigation into Employment Judge Martin Kurrein’s conduct during the high-profile trial of Sarah Kuteh in 2017, following a Christian Legal Centre (CLC) complaint.
On the 27th January, the investigation of the judge Martin Kurrein for anti-christian bias has been re-opened. The judge approved the dismissal of the nurse Sara Kuteh for talking about her faith to her patients. The trial of Mrs.Kuteh took place in 2017, where the judge was accused of having a hostile treatment to Mrs. Kuteh and her representative and dramatically reduced the time of procedure.
On the 25th January, a discussion started after Harry Miller, an ex-policeman, was called by the Humberside Police to check about some complaints about his posts on Twitter. In one Tweet he questioned if transgender women would be real women. The police officer had to "check the thinking", although he had committed no crime. After being reported as a "hate incident", Miller sued the police for breaching free speech. The court declared the intervention of the police "unlawful" in February.
Following plans first proposed in a government consultation last year, parents of children attending Welsh schools will no longer have a legal right to withdraw their children from compulsory relationships and sex education (RSE), as well as and religious education (RE) classes.
On December 18th, a judge in an employment tribunal ruled against Maya Forstater, a tax expert at the Centre for Global Development, who defended her right to say on social media that men cannot become ‘women’ by undergoing gender reassignment treatment. Employment Judge Taylor ruled that her belief that biological sex cannot be changed “did not have the protected characteristic of a philosophical belief.” She had tweeted that “men cannot change into women” as part of an argument about the government’s proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act. This was not deemed a "protected belief" under the Equality Act 2010.
A line of Christmas cards produced by British card company 'Love Layla' caused controversy for including messages mocking some of the deeply held beliefs of the Christian faith. The cards included taglines which call into question the Virgin Mary's miraculous conception, and which refer to Jesus as "a bloke that wore socks with sandals." Speaking to the Daily Mirror, James Mildred, for Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) said, "A lot of Christians will be deeply offended by this sort of thing...It highlights a fundamental hypocrisy that Christianity is seen as fair game to mock, disparage and insult."
A Christian pastor and school caretaker, who received abuse and threats for a June 2019 tweet about LGBTQ Pride has taken legal action against the school which he felt forced to leave. His case was heard on Court on January 2022.
A High Court judge ruled in favor of an exclusion zone around a school in Birmingham permanent, preventing parents from protesting outside the grounds against the "No Outsiders" primary school programme that teaches about LGBT relationships. Many parents and activists claim the programme contradicts their faith and is not "age appropriate." A temporary exclusion zone was first imposed by the courts in the summer after months of protests outside Anderton Park Primary School by mostly Muslim parents. Birmingham City Council claimed that the order was sought from the courts over safety concerns.
An atheist couple who launched a High Court challenge because they feel their children are being religiously "indoctrinated" during assemblies have won their judicial review claim. The Burford primary school in the Cotswolds in Oxfordshire is one of 33 schools of the Church of England's Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust (ODST). Although parents were already entitled to withdraw their children from assemblies, even in church-run schools, The Harrises have argued that the school must provide an "inclusive assembly as a meaningful alternative for pupils withdrawn from Christian worship," rather than simply supervision of the children.
A Catholic Liberal Democrat who was the prospective candidate for Stoke-on-Trent South in the upcoming election was abruptly deselected on the basis that his "values" were not in line with the party. Thirty-six hours after Robert Flello was chosen as the Lib Dem candidate, the party announced in a press release that his candidacy had been revoked. The former Labour MP's views on abortion and marriage were not a secret, as he had been a member of parliament for 12 years.
11-12 November 2019. Church Warden left "in tears" after rocks damaged historic details of multiple windows at St Thomas' Church, Worcester.
Dr David Mackereth has been an A&E doctor for more than 25 years. The Christian lost his job at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for refusing to identify his clients by their chosen gender instead of their biological sex. He stated that the usage of 'transgender pronouns' would go against his conscience as both, a doctor and a Bible-believing Christian. Supported by the legal team of Christian Concern, he took his case to court.
A Christian doctor has lost an employment tribunal case, where he alleged that the Department of Work and Pensions breached his freedom of thought, conscience and religion pursuant to the Equality Act. Disability assessor, Dr. David Mackereth claimed discrimination on part of the Department of Work and Pensions for failing to accommodate his refusal to use pronouns which did not correspond with the biological sex of clients. In its decision, the panel stated that Dr. Mackereth's belief that "the Bible teaches us that God made humans male or female" was "incompatible with human dignity."
Northern Ireland Minister received correspondence from more than 700 medical practitioners calling for conscience protections which would allow Christians and conscientious objectors within the profession the statutory right to refuse to participate in abortions.
Over the last few months, a church in Abertridwr, Wales endured repeated acts of vandalism, resulting in fears that it will have to close to public visits during the week. Damage included a stolen collection box, a damaged and defaced historic visitors book, in use since the 1940s, a flagstone outside the church was removed, and fire extinguishers were sprayed inside the church, causing both damage and financial burden.
The Carnwadric Church, home to the Rainbow Centre and Carnwadric Win Project, in Scotland was ravaged on August 20th. The church door was found burst open on the next morning. The vandals stole cash boxes and laptops, knocked cabinets over, broke windows, tore TV`s off the walls and wrote the letters "AYT" (maybe a mark of a local young team) on the walls.
On August 11th around 22:00 unknown perpetrators threw two large stones through the windows of the church hall at the Holy Trinity church in Kimberley. The police are investigating and searching for witnesses.
Six windows were smashed and mysterious graffiti reading "BEAST" was written on the wall of St. Oswald's Roman Catholic Presbytery in Old Swan (Liverpool). Police began an investigation.
A Christian patient’s request to have Sunday worship services at a medium secure mental health unit in East London have finally been granted after a year-long legal battle with the NHS on the grounds of religious discrimination. As a result of his weekly requests falling on deaf ears, Freddie O'Neil turned to the Christian Legal Centre (CLC) for support. A pre-action letter was then sent to the East London Foundation Trust in October 2018 stating that, as a Christian, Freddie needed to attend Sunday Christian services each week as well as receiving Holy Communion. After a year, and further threats of legal action, the Centre finally began offering weekly Sunday Christian services on Sunday 7 July 2019.
On July 12th, firefighters were called to a fire at St. Margaret's Ruined Church in Hopton after a motorbike was set on fire underneath the 13th century building. While the incident was ruled an arson by officials, the investigation was closed in October due to lack of evidence.
Red "satanic crosses" were sprayed on graves and a church door and the words "God does not love you" were left on a wall at St Andrews Church in Evesham.
Around the 19th June, four arson attacks occurred in East London. On the 18th of June, the front door of the St. John's Church was set on fire. On the 19th June, the Baptist Church in Leytonstone has been attacked. In a Church in Ramsay Road was the same scene as in the Baptist Church at night of the same day, the church had two arson attacks and was severely damaged. On the 20th June, the police were called to a fire in St Matthew's Church, West Ham. On each church, graffiti was found on the main door with occult symbols and messages including pentagrams, spirals, the number 666 and the word "hell”. On June 25th, a 27-year-old was arrested for suspicion of the arson along with other criminal acts.
The doors of four churches in East London have been nearly destroyed by criminal attacks. Within two days vandals set fires at the outside of four church doors, including one where a children's playgroup was taking place. Occult symbols and messages like pentagrams, spirals, the number "666" and the word "hell" were written in the doors of each of the four churches. The police are investigating and searching for witnesses.
Scottish local councils ask for more power to introduce buffer zones around abortion clinics where they see fit without having to appeal to the UK government for permission. This call follows "intimidating" anti-abortion protests outside Glasgow, Larbert and Edinburgh clinics. However, buffer zones such as those would restrict anyone from certain actions such as praying, calmly talking to women about abortion and make them a criminal offense.
Police investigated an arson attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Ballymagroarty (Northern Ireland). An outbuilding next to the church was set on fire at around 10:30pm on May 24th. 20 firefighters battled the blaze which spread to the church roof and were able to contain it before it spread to the chapel or parochial house. The parochial house was evacuated. The fire service reported that CCTV cameras filmed two people setting the fire.
Legal proceedings were launched in the High Court against Richmond Council to challenge a controversial Public Space Protection Order (“PSPO”) around an abortion clinic on Rosslyn Road that makes it a criminal offense to, among other things, pray or have conversations about abortion. The legal challenge has been brought by Justyna Pasek, who has personally supported women visiting the abortion clinic in Richmond for over five years, offering them alternatives to abortion.
Sarah Kuteh loses case at Court of Appeal.
In the latest in a series of vandalism incidents at the St John the Evangelist church in Copthorne, the Victorian gate memorial to World War I veterans in the churchyard was kicked in and broken. The Churchwarden reported that this was the latest in a string of incidents at the village church. Police are investigating.
On Saturday, April 27, anti-Catholic graffiti (“F*** the Pope”) was found spray-painted on a bus shelter outside Holy Family Catholic Church in Mossend. On Monday, April 29, vandals entered St. Simon Catholic Church in Glasgow, the main place of worship for the city's Polish community, and attacked the sanctuary, breaking a statue, overturning candles and a shrine to Our Lady of Częstochowa.
On April 27th anti-Catholic graffiti saying "F*** the Pope" was sprayed on a bus station outside the Holy Family Catholic Church in Mossed. Only two days later unknown perpetrators broke into the St. Simon Catholic Church in Glasgow, overturned candles and a shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa and broke the statue. Although only 15 percent of the Scottish population are Catholics, they suffer 57 percent of all religion-motivated hate crimes in Scotland.
Large rocks were thrown through the windows of the Elim Pentecostal Church on the High Road sometime following the Easter Sunday service. Two stained glass windows and two double-glazed side windows were destroyed. Damage is estimated at £2,000. Pastor Clifford Bedeau reported that it was the first act of vandalism at the church in 15 years.
Kristie Higgs, a Christian school worker will challenge a Gloucestershire school academy’s decision to dismiss her for gross misconduct. She was dismissed after she shared two posts on her Facebook page in October 2018 that raised concerns about Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) at another school in the same village - her child’s Church of England primary school. Higgs was told following an investigation and a six hour hearing that she would be dismissed without notice for gross misconduct.
In April 2018, the pro-life student university group Aberdeen Life Ethics Society submitted an application for affiliation to Aberdeen University's Societies Union (AUSA) but was denied due to AUSA's policy which required the union to give “no funding, facilitation, or platform” to any pro-life group and forbids the “unreasonable display” of pro-life material on campus. Aberdeen Life Ethics Society has taken legal action against the University and AUSA claiming unlawful discrimination and the violation of equality rights protected by UK law.
An Iranian man who converted to Christianity after discovering it was a peaceful religion in contrast to Islam had his asylum claim rejected by the Home Office on March 19th. In a rejection letter from the Home Office, passages with violent imagery from the Bible including Matthew, Revelation, and Exodus were used to argue that the claimant's claim about Christianity was false. “These examples are inconsistent with your claim that you converted to Christianity after discovering it is a ‘peaceful religion’ as opposed to Islam, which contained violence and rage,” the letter read. The Home Office later said the letter was "not in accordance with our policy approach to claims based on religious persecution" and agreed to reconsider the application.
Caroline Farrow, a Catholic journalist, was investigated under the "malicious communications act" after the founder of a transgender charity accused her of misgendering her daughter in a tweet. Farrow said it is her religious belief that a person cannot change sex.
During the Court of Appeal hearing in the case of Felix Ngole, the University of Sheffield graduate student in social work who was dismissed from the program after he expressed his Christian views about marriage on Facebook, counsel for the university said no social worker should be allowed to express such views.
Police began a public order offense investigation on March 12th in Manchester after an angry individual screamed obscenities at elderly members of the 40 Days for Life group and sent chairs and leaflets flying outside an abortion clinic. A day earlier, in Nottingham, three people praying outside a medical centre were accosted by a man who swore at them and threw a jug of lumpy yellow liquid at them. Police began an investigation for assault as well as a hate crime motivated by the victims' religious beliefs.
St. Matthew's Church was badly damaged by a fire in the early morning hours of March 5th. The Lincolnshire police said it was intentionally set and treated it as an arson investigation. It appears the fire began in the shed adjacent to the church, and was one of several fires set in the town that evening.
New "relationships and sex education" (RSE) guidance published on February 25th requires schools to teach primary and secondary school children about LGBT relationships and may not permit parents to opt-out. Parents of primary school children are permitted to withdraw their children from the sex education component of RSE, but the relationships component would be mandatory.
On February 24th, swastikas, names, and arrows were discovered scratched on the stonework of the 800-year old Cathedral of Brechin in Angus, Scotland. A few days later, vandals carved "F*** you Jesus" on the building. Police opened an investigation and a group of juvenile girls were suspected to be responsible for the acts which were described by a church elder as "totally repulsive."
An elderly man preaching at the Southgate Underground Station was arrested by London police after he refused to leave the area, telling him he was "disturbing people's days" and needed to go away. The police seized the man's Bible despite his pleas not to take it.
West Midlands police investigated handwritten letters threatening petrol bomb attacks and mass stabbings sent to fifteen churches in the UK from November to January.
A British court has ruled that a pro-life activist may challenge a legal decision banning prayer and support for women in crisis pregnancies outside a Marie Stopes clinic.
Asher Samson, a Pakistani Christian who fought to stay in the UK after allegedly being beaten and repeatedly threatened with execution by Islamic extremists in Pakistan, was deported back to Pakistan on January 9th. Samson, backed by thousands of Christians, attempted to persuade the UK government to allow him to stay after being threatened with execution by Islamic extremists in his home country.