The Catholic Church in Luleå Sweden was the victim of arson on July 5, 2017. The fire was started at two places outside of the church, one of them being the main entrance of the church. The parish priest, Nelson Mendoza Caserial, is shocked and surprised about the attack. He has stated that the church had not received any prior threats, either to the congregation, the employees, or himself. He lives in a house on the church property and was sleeping when the police alerted him at midnight. "I was really shocked and still shaking. I have not slept a wink since the police came and told us that the church was on fire," he said.
The Spanish congress has passed a vote to change the law guaranteeing ideology, religion and freedom of worship in Spain. The Parliamentary Group Spokesman Joan Tarda stated that the law needs to be renewed as the Spanish society today no longer resembles the society of the 1980s and thus needs to be updated. New drafts of the law will have to be submitted prior to the end of the next session.
The Catalan separatist youth organization launched a campaign against the Bishop of Solsona, Xavier Novell, and Cardinal Archbishop of Valencia, Antonio Cañizares. Arran distributed a poster with the image of Antonio Cañizares and Xavier Novell practicing anal sex as "denunciation" of the Church's position on homosexuality.
An independent religious kindergarten in Umeå, Sweden, was forced to stop saying grace before meals by the county government. The Education Act says that religious elements may be included in education at independent schools, but they must be voluntary in order for the children to participate. The law does not say that the children themselves must agree, but rather that their parents consent on their behalf. The county argued that the children have not made the choice to participate in saying grace and have thus prohibited it. Preschool Director Britt Marie Mårtensson said they replaced grace with "Thank you for the sun and the rain and the food on our table."
One day after incendiary devices were used to start a fire at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, anti-Christian slogans were painted on the walls outside the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos of Madrid. Slogans included "The only church that illuminates is one that burns" and "No more crucifixes."
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has suggested that all Church of Sweden priests be compelled to perform gay marriages, or "do something else." Currently the Swedish church holds the position that “no priest should be obliged to officiate at the wedding of a same-sex couple.” Löfven said priests who are unable to bless gay marriage are in the wrong vocation and that the Social Democrats are working to ensure that priests "will consecrate everyone."
During the night of June 24, 2017 the church Saint-Vincent-et-Saint-Arnould was broken into and vandalized. The church door was broken and the tabernacle in the church was also forced open. A large processional cross was stolen, as was a vacuum cleaner from a professional cleaning company who were preparing the church for its reopening after a year of construction. The police opened an investigation.
On June 24, 2017, the statue of the Virgen de Covadonga on the pilgrimage route of Chorrón de Villamayor in Piloña (Asturias, Spain) was beheaded by vandals. The statue, known as "La Santina," is an image of the Virgin Mary which forms an integral part of the Asturian tradition and presides over a small cave chapel and is protected by a metal fence. The parish is upset and sees the event as an attack not only on religious sentiments, but also on cultural heritage. The Basilica of Covadonga, next to the sacred cave where pilgrims venerate the statue of La Santina, is a place of worship and pilgrimage for the people of Asturias.
Witnesses discovered on June 24, 2017 that two statues of Saint Joan of Arc at the entrance of her home village of Neufchâteau had been sprayed with "anti-fascist" messages. Police opened an investigation.
The chapel of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), the second most important public university in the region and one of the main universities in Spain, was attacked with incendiary devices thrown through a window early in the morning of June 23, 2017. In addition to trying to destroy the chapel, the perpetrators left the slogan "The only church that illuminates is the one that burns" on the walls.,