All cases
Cemetery vandalised in Leon
October 7, 2024, SpainOn 7 October, tombs and statues in the cemetery at Soto and Amio in León were smashed to pieces with sledgehammers. Locals found decorations had been overturned and that the vandals had left behind a statue of Mary holding a decapitated child.
Theft and arson attack on a church in Melrand
October 6, 2024, FranceThe region of Melrand, France, has witnessed several attacks on Christian sites in recent years. The most recent occurred on 2 October, when unknown assailants stole several items and started a fire inside the church, which was quickly extinguished.
Man arrested for plotting church attack in Bergamo
October 4, 2024, ItalyOn 4 October, a 22-year-old Egyptian man was arrested in Bergamo for spreading radical Islamist views on the internet and planning to blow up a church in the centre of Bergamo. Investigations revealed that he was planning to attack priests and other Christians.
Church attacked after postings inciting violence against Christians
October 3, 2024, AustriaOn the morning of 3 October, a group of masked individuals used climbing equipment to scale the balustrade of St Charles Church in Vienna and remove a banner promoting the March for Life. Left-wing extremist groups are suspected of having damaged the property of the Karlskirche over a long period of time and of having verbally abused and threatened the elderly priest.
Church in Metz burglarised and desecrated
October 2, 2024, FranceThe church of Sainte-Famille in Metz was broken into and desecrated during the night of 2 October. Unknown perpetrators broke in through large windows, damaged and stole different objects and desecrated the tabernacle.
FSB detains terrorist accomplices preparing attacks on churches in Ingushetia
September 30, 2024, RussiaAs reported on September 30 by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the FSB prevented a terrorist attack on churches and law enforcement officers in Ingushetia. One of the targets of the attacks seems to have been the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sunzha.
Vandalism of the church
September 27, 2024, KosovoOn 27 September, an act of desecration took place at the church in Međugorje, in the Ibarski Kolašin area, during the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. Sacred icons were destroyed and the church was damaged by bullets.
Vandalism in Rheydt's St Mary's Church
September 27, 2024, GermanyOn September 27, unknown perpetrators knocked over the baptismal font of holy water, the ornate bronze dome and the font bowl in St Mary's Church in Mönchengladbach. Wax from the candles was scattered all over the church and flowers were thrown into the rubbish bins.
Head of statue of Mary torn off
September 27, 2024, PolandAn unknown perpetrator desecrated Cyranowska shrine at Karol Olszewski Square in Mielec, as reported on September 27. According to a witness to the incident, the glass of the chapel's cavity was broken, a statue of Mary was pulled out and its head was torn off.
Teacher Sanctioned for Using Religious Text in Local Heritage Class
September 27, 2024, FranceA French teacher in Carcassonne was reprimanded for using materials on St. Bernadette Soubirous and Lourdes in an Occitan class, allegedly in breach of neutrality laws. Despite arguing that the content reflected regional heritage, a court upheld the sanction in September 2024, ruling that it violated the principles of secularism in public education.