All cases
Statue of Sainte-Barbe Smashed
April 17, 2019, FranceA statue of the patron saint of miners and firefighters was removed from its glass case in a square in front of a church in the small town of Belle-Roche (Cocheren) and smashed to the ground by unknown vandals.
Statue of Virgin Mary Decapitated in Marlhes
April 17, 2019, FranceResidents of the Loire village were stunned to discover the statue of la vierge de Cartaire had been smashed, breaking the chest and decapitating the head. The statue, which sits in a small flower-filled grotto, is made of cast iron with metal reinforcements. Reports indicate that the person or people who committed this act would have had to be well-equipped to break such a strong structure.
Theft from Offertory Box in Euskirchen Church
April 17, 2019, GermanyAround noontime on April 17th, unknown thieves emptied the offertory box in the St. Martin Catholic Church in Euskirchen and fled the church unnoticed. The amount stolen cannot be determined.
UK School Employee Challeges Dismissal for Raising Concerns about Sex Education
April 16, 2019, United KingdomKristie 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.
Donation Box in Wittmund Church Broken Into
April 16, 2019, GermanyPolice are investigating the April 16th theft of an unknown sum of money from a donation box in the Deichkirche in Carolinensiel.
Anti-Catholic Graffiti Sprayed on Galicia Church
April 14, 2019, SpainOn the morning of Palm Sunday, the priest and parishioners discovered graffiti sprayed on the outside of the Meside (Ourense) church. "Borregos" ("sheep"), "La religión es el opium del pueblo" ("Religion is the opiate of the people"), "Por la república" (For the republic"), a cross in a circle with a line through it, and leftist symbols were among the messages on the church.
Dillenburg: Vandalism in the Catholic Church
April 14, 2019, GermanyOn April 14th, between 2 pm and 6 pm, unknown persons vandalized the Herz Jesu Catholic church on Wilhelmsplatz in Dillenburg (in Hesse's Gießen region). They damaged a holy water stoup and candles and scattered leaflets on the floor.
Break-in at Church in Herne
April 14, 2019, GermanyBetween April 14th and 15th, unknown thieves broke into the Protestant Church Baukau in Herne by breaking a window. They tore one donation box from a wall, destroyed another one, and pried open several cupboards and fled with the donations.
Sacred Objects and Keys Stolen from Mödling Church
April 13, 2019, AustriaUnknown perpetrators stole a chalice, two ciboria, and a monstrance from the tabernacle, as well as all the keys in the sacristy from the parish church in Biedermannsdorf (district of Mödling) on the evening of April 13th.
Break-in and Vandalism at El Copo Chapel
April 13, 2019, SpainA chapel attached to the parish of the Sagrada Familia in the El Copo neighborhood of Málaga was broken into during the early morning hours of April 13th. The chapel door, as well as the tabernacle, were forced open and the sacristy was damaged. Nothing was stolen. Police investigated whether it was connected to the theft of ciboria containing consecrated hosts from another Málaga church a few days earlier.