Spanish police have foiled a terrorist attack just before Christmas. Four suspects aged between 14 and 17 were arrested on 19 December during a raid in the city of Elche. The group is accused of planning an Islamist terrorist attack on a Christian church.
On New Year's Eve, unknown vandals caused extensive damage to the exterior walls of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Loreto in Ribordone. Locals are calling for more security measures as this isolated church is frequently vandalised.
The town church in Lauterbach is closed to visitors due to vandalism. Two unidentified youths smashed two stained glass windows with lead frames. Several items have been stolen in recent incidents, including a Bible and an Easter candle.
In the Strzelce district, an unknown person has stolen statues of saints from two roadside shrines and replaced them with strange caricatures. Police are investigating.
During the night of 30 to 31 December, someone destroyed two nativity scenes in the town centre of Ostiano and in the churchyard. The statues of the infant Jesus, the sheep and Mary were overturned and the statue of Saint Joseph was destroyed.
Three suspects have been arrested following a shooting at the Association of Salvation Churches in Istanbul. On 30 December, three gunmen arriving in a commercial vehicle opened fire at the association's building in the Cekmekoy district on the Asian side of Istanbul.
The Nativity Scene of Cullera, in the Valencian Community, has been vandalised with the destruction of an image of the Infant Jesus.
On 29 December, the back wall of the parish house in Regnano was set on fire. Only two weeks earlier, the door to the bell tower of the church had also been vandalised and destroyed.
Someone smashed the protective glass of the Cristo del Puente image in Ceuta with a rock in a niche in the church on 28 December, and the image had to be moved to another parish.
A figure of the Infant Jesus from the nativity scene on the steps of the church in Levico Terme has been stolen during the night during the night.