All cases

Major Thefts and Damage at Marquette-lez-Lille Cemetery

August 7, 2019, France

In Marq-Lambersart on the Weekend of 3rd August, around 225 graves were robbed at the Marquette-Lez-Lille Cemetery. The unknown perpetrators attacked the bronze vases, which were unsealed and stole the bronze crosses from the graves. Also, some graves were damaged.

Suspicious Fire at Virton Rectory

August 5, 2019, Belgium

During the night between August 4th and 5th 2019 firefighters from three towns intervened to extinguish a major fire in the annex of the rectory next to the Church Saint-Laurant in the Belgian town of Virton. The fire broke out in the small outbuilding adjoining the rectory, where a pile of wood and old planks were stored. The fire quickly spread to the roof of the left part of the rectory and the wall of an adjacent restaurant. The priest had just enough time to save his car, which was in the garage and was soon engulfed in flames.

Liverpool Church Vandalized

August 4, 2019, United Kingdom

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.

Repeated Vandalism at Longford Church; Bishop Calls it "Profoundly Disrespectful"

August 2, 2019, Ireland

Irish police Gardaí investigated an attempted burglary at the Catholic St. Michael's Church in Shroid, Longford Co. after a passerby reported broken windows to the parish house. Unknown perpetrators smashed a few plain glass windows and a stained glass window depicting the Sacred Heart which was over the altar of the church between July 28th and August 2nd.

German Pastor Says Asylum for Christian Converts Has Become a Pure Gamble"

August 2, 2019, Germany

Protestant pastor Dr. Gottfried Martens, who ministers to over 1,600 people in his church, most of them converts and asylum seekers from Iran and Afghanistan, has said that whether someone is granted asylum or not is almost like a "pure gamble." The problem Martens sees in the administrative courts is how judges "verify" the earnestness of an asylum seeker's conversion to Christianity. Some trust a pastor's statement whether written or oral in court, while some ignore it and only focus on the short time they spend with the refugee in court. This fully depends on what kind of judge one gets appointed to, according to Martens, and there is no way to prepare well enough for a court date if there is no general regulation that a minister's statement be taken into account.

Italian Church Vandalized with Excrement

August 1, 2019, Italy

During the early morning hours of August 1st, unknown perpetrators vandalized the church of Sant'Antonio in Crebbio, Abbadia Lariana. They smeared excrement on the front door, staircase, lawn, and the cobblestones outside the church. Volunteers immediately began cleaning the heavily soiled area and found a yellow bowl with some dung residue. The parish priest of Abbadia and the community expressed deep shock and outrage. Police opened an investigation.

Thief Targeted Offertory Box

July 30, 2019, Germany

An unidentified person pried open the offertory box for candles on July 30th in the St. Pancratius Catholic Church in Körbecke, Möhnesee.

NHS Trust Agreed to Christian Sunday Services after Threat of Legal Action

July 30, 2019, United Kingdom

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.

Several Swastikas Painted on Oratory in Ireland

July 30, 2019, Ireland

Several swastikas were spray-painted on the oratory and a cross in the Comeragh mountains overlooking Clonmel by unknown vandals sometime before July 30th. A team of volunteers of the Holy Year Cross Committee in Clonmel had come up to the site to prepare it for the annual August bank holiday Monday mass when they discovered the graffiti. Gardaí investigated the incident.

Fire in Historic Evangelical Church

July 30, 2019, Germany

Construction workers noticed the smell of burning wood and smoke when they arrived at the Nikolaus-Kirchlein ("little church") in Buchenberg, Königsfeld in the Black Forest in the morning of the 30th of July. They alerted firefighters who were able to extinguish the fire before too much damage was done. The more than 800-year-old church remained mostly unscathed, as only one pew was damaged by the fire. Police are estimating a property damage of 5,000 euros and speculate that the fire began in the area of the altar, but an investigation was opened.