All cases
Oil Poured Down Church Steps
April 7, 2018, ItalyOn April 7th unidentified vandals poured frying oil down the grand stone steps in front of the church of San Giovanni Evangelista in Modica.
Saint-Michel Church in Holque Vandalized
April 7, 2018, FranceSaint-Michel Church in Holque, a small French commune in northern France was vandalized.
Poulseur: Statue of Christ Shattered
April 7, 2018, BelgiumOn the morning of April 7th, the sacristan of the church in Poulseur discovered it had been vandalized. A statue of a crucified Jesus Christ had been taken down from a hook and shattered into pieces. The extensive damage to the statue suggested that the perpetrators climbed onto the choir screen and threw it down to the ground from above. Other vessels with flowers were also knocked down and broken. The damage was reported to the police.
Catholic College Vandalized in Vendée
April 6, 2018, FranceA day before about fifty students from Notre-Dame de l'Esperance College were to leave for a trip to England, they found their trip cancelled. All of the students' identity papers, which had been stored in a locker at school, were discovered cut in half and thrown into a garbage bin.The director of Notre-Dame de l'Esperance College sent a letter to the parents explaining that the trip was canceled and turned to the British Embassy for assistance. Police began an investigation.
Vandalism and Theft at Warmifontaine Church
April 6, 2018, BelgiumUnidentified perpetrators looted the church of Saint-Martin in Warmifontaine, breaking open the tabernacle with a crowbar, and stealing ciboriums containing consecrated Hosts, chalices, and hand-carved statues.
German Public Broadcaster Replaces Jesus Christ with Easter Bunny
April 6, 2018, GermanyA German satire TV recreated the Passion of Jesus Christ with a crucified Easter plush bunny in lieu of Jesus. Photomontages included the toy animal, among other things, on the cross and sitting among the Apostles for the Last Supper. The Christian Media Association KEP immediately filed a complaint to the broadcaster saying that it made "the central religious content of Christianity literally a joke."
Relic Stolen from Saint-Étienne de Toul
April 5, 2018, FranceOn April 5th, a student who works as a summer guide of the Toul Cathedral, Saint-Étienne, discovered that pieces of the relic belonging to the first bishop of Toul, St. Gerard, was missing. The relic is about twenty centimeters long and was pulled out from its holster.
Host Desecration in Spain: the Case before the ECHR
April 5, 2018, SpainThe Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers – Asociación de Abogados Cristianos – lodged an application with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with the help of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), following the host desecration by the “artist” Abel Azcona.
Fires Set at Three German Churches in Ostholstein District
April 4, 2018, GermanyFrom April 1st to April 4th, fires were set in front of the wooden entrance doors of three churches in Heiligenhafen by unknown perpetrators.
Church in Vicht Ransacked; Fire Extinguisher Emptied
April 4, 2018, GermanyVandals devastated the interior of the parish church of St. John the Baptist in the village of Vicht (Stolberg District) on April 4th.