A woman of the activist group Femen disrupted the nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. The topless woman had ‘God is a Woman’ written on her torso. She stole a figurine of baby Jesus which had been unveiled by the pope the day before. The woman rushed to the manger in the center of the square, grabbed the Jesus figurine, and raised it above her head while shouting slogans against the Catholic Church. Police intervened.
The Nativity Scene at the parish church of St. Wandrille in Pecq was severely vandalized by unknown perpetrators. The Holy Family and the cradle were stolen.
The Church of St. Hilary of Berry-au-Bac in Aisne was devastated by vandals. The perpetrators have not only stolen valuable things, but also vandalized, defiled and profaned holy items of the church, including the church's tabernacles. The vandals remain unknown.
Four children and one teenager rioted at a Christmas service at Our Lady’s Catholic church in Rheydt close to Mönchengladbach. They entered the service and yelled: „Scheiß-Christen“ (shit Christians). Several news outlets reported that the congregation had identified the youth as young Muslims.
An old wayside crucifix with corpus was cut down with a motor saw in Groß-Enzersdorf, Lower Austria. A Muslim of Egyptian origin whose property was located close to the cross said that he it had „annoyed him“. The cross had been a destination for pilgrimages for over 60 years.
When Cardinal Schönborn was about to read the gospel in the liturgy of festivity of December 8th in St. Stephan’s cathedral, a performance artist stepped in front of the altar for a minute of silence dressed in read. Afterwards he marched out of the church together with about 20 activists to hand out leaflets picturing a nacked nun eating icecream to protest celibacy. Police investigate on grounds of a violation of freedom of religious practice.
The image of Virgin Mary was completely destroyed by a fire in the chapel of San Sebastian Hospital in Palma del Rio. Evidence suggests that the fire was intentionally caused by arsonist, because nothing else got burnt. However, the mayor reminded people that it may have been the result of an unfortunate accident due to wiring. Many local faithful could not stop tears, because the image, an object of faithful adoration, was one of the oldest in Palma del Rio.
Local Parliament in Kreuzberg district of Berlin states that "The district office agrees upon a principle that, there is no permission to be granted for the events of religious communities in the public space". As a result, the previously called "Weihnnachtmarkt" (Christmas market) is from now on to be called "Winterfest" (winter festival).
A group of people organized a campaign against building religious schools in Spain and painted slogans "Your education - our destruction” on walls of the church of Santa Monica in Rivas Vaciamadrid. Moreover, some protesters in green jerseys (as a symbol of public schools) broke into the church with praying people to express their opinion. Local right-wing party PP decalred that it was another example of the radical atmosphere in the town.
An activist of the feminist group “Femen” climbed the altar in Strasbourg's cathedral topless and waved the EU flag. The words “Anti-Secular Europe,” were written across her breasts, and “The Pope is Not a Politician” on her back.