All cases

Santiago Cathedral Defaced with Graffiti

May 20, 2023, Spain

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is an internationally renowned place of pilgrimage. On May 20, a graffiti displaying a penis was smeared on the cathedral’s west façade, which then got covered with a tarpaulin for cleaning purposes.

British Man Admits Plotting to Murder Street Evangelist Hatun Tash

May 19, 2023, United Kingdom

A 21-year-old British man, Edward Little, has pleaded guilty to preparing to commit acts of terrorism in an attack against the evangelist Hatun Tash in 2022. Little was found carrying £5,000, with which he planned to buy a firearm to kill Hatun Tash at the Speaker's Corner, a place for public debates where she frequently debates and preaches. He refused the allegations at first, but on the May 19, 2023 he admitted to planning the murder back on September 23, 2022.

Vandals Pour Red Paint Inside the Walls of a French Church

May 19, 2023, France

On May 19, between 3:00 and 7:00 p.m., unknown perpetrators entered the church Notre-Dame des Grâces in Revel without being detected. Once inside, they poured red paint on the walls. A depiction of Christ on the cross, a pyrographed painting of the Virgin and Child, candles and the altar were also vandalized with paint. On a wall, the word "proteste" (unclear form in French) was also written in red. The mayor considers closing the church outside worship hours due to this incident. The same happening had already taken place on May 1st, with the same acts and the word "protest" written on a wall with red paint. Back in 2018, the church in Revel had been attacked with arson.

Citizen arrested in Madrid for praying in front of an abortion clinic

May 17, 2023, Spain

On May 17, a citizen who was silently praying in front of the Dator abortion clinic in Madrid was arrested by the Spanish national police. The arrest comes as a result of the entry into force of the reform of the Spanish Criminal Code last year, which punishes praying in front of abortion clinics as it considers it 'harassment to women.'

An Exhibition in Memory of John Paul II Vandalized in Gdansk

May 17, 2023, Poland

In the Polish city of Gdansk, a Solidarity exhibition dedicated to St John Paul II before the Solidarity building in Gdansk, was vandalized on May 17. The CCTV footage shows five people destroying the exhibition boards with the Holy Father John Paul II. The crime was reported to the police.

Evangelical Church seized in Occupied Ukraine

May 16, 2023, Ukraine

On Tuesday the 16th of April, Russian forces seized the Ukrainian Christian Evangelical Church of the Holy Trinity in Mariupol. According to a US NGO, it is "part of a wider systematic religious persecution campaign in occupied Ukraine." More generally: many Ukrainian pastors said they had been arrested and tortured by Russian soldiers, with one saying that the troops were directed to "kill all the Christian pastors who are not part of the Russian Orthodox Church."

St Cordula Church Closed due to Repetitive Vandalism

May 16, 2023, Belgium

The Church of St Cordula in Schoten has announced that the doors will be kept closed, due to several cases of vandalism. The place of worship used to be open during the day. In the last vandalism case, candle wax was poured on the floor and smeared on chairs and carpets. A burnt smell shows that paper might also have been burnt.

Vandalism at Haarala cemetery

May 16, 2023, Finland

At the end of April, the Puskaradio Facebook group reported that vandalism had been committed at Haarala Cemetery. One post revealed that a hatch of a candle holder had been ripped off one of the gravestones, and similar acts had been committed on other graves.

Bavarian Police Identify Growing Trend of Anti-Christian Hate Crime

May 15, 2023, Germany

Churches in Bavaria are targeted by vandals with increased frequency. The Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA) registered 294 cases of damage to property in churches, chapels, or monasteries last year - 23 more than in 2021 (271). According to the information, the trend has been increasing in recent years. In 2019, the LKA still counted 219 cases, and the following year it was 242. According to a spokesman of the Catholic diocese of Regensburg there are: "For example, figures of saints were destroyed or damaged, people smoked and urinated in church rooms, church walls were smeared or fires were set inside the church."

Vandals Destroy a Shrine and Smash Statues

May 14, 2023, Poland

On the night of May 13 to 14, the chapel in the Grotto of the White Mountains in Łaskarzew was vandalised. The statues of the Mary, Saint Bernadette and the image of Merciful Jesus were destroyed in the act.