The Employment Tribunal found ‘No Discrimination’ despite the ruling that a Christian nurse cannot wear a cross for religious reasons though a Muslim can wear a hijab for religious reasons. On January 15th, 2013, the European Court of Human Rights confirmed that the hospital could make such policies - if justified by health and safety reasons.
On January 15th, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the four UK Freedom of Religion cases: one was ruled in favour and three against. The decision of the Court is not yet final and can be appealed to the Grand Chamber of the Court.
In Rödermark (Hessen) and the district of Offenbach Protestant churches were targeted by vandals. Altar clothes, bibles and other things were stolen. Due to these incidents, the targeted churches remain closed during the night.
In Duren (NRW) the St. Cyriac Church was completely defiled and the tabernacle desecrated. The damage was so grave that the church was pronounced unfit for service.
When Pope Benedict XVI gave his weekly Sunday address on January 13, 2013, on St. Peter's Square, four women of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen took off their shirts to reveal the slogan they had written on their bare skin, "In Gay We Trust". This took place while the pope lead the Angelus prayer. The women screamed "Homophobes shut up" as they were taken away from St Peter's square by the Italian police.
In the January edition of the Diocesan newspaper, the Bishop of Trieste had published an article restating the Church’s teaching on homosexual unions. Because of this, on the 12th of January about two hundred homosexual activist demonstrated in front of his home effectively barricading him in for the afternoon.
Instead of tackling the enormous number of anti-Christian vandalisms, President Hollande announced 'the National Observatory of Secularism' to come into being this year, tasked with closely monitoring religious organisations for any potential 'excesses'. French Interior Minister Manuel Valls highlighted various Catholic organisations, stating that "All excesses are being minutely registered in case we have to consider dissolving it."
Tens of thousands petitioned Jose Carrillo, the rector of Complutense University asking that the agreement with the Archdiocese of Madrid be adhered to and that the closing of university chapels be stopped. According to a spokesman for the religious-liberty organization MasLibres, Miguel Vidal, the “rector has argued that the university is not trying to shut down chapels, but to revise its agreement with the archdiocese.”
Ms Karolina Vidović-Krišto, a well-respected journalist with HRT/HTV, was the editor and host of a popular program “Slika Hrvatske”, produced specifically for Croatians living overseas. She was suspended after editing and hosting a show which criticised the government's sex ed programme on December 29, 2012.
The Recommendation by the Minister of Science, Education and Sports, Mr. Ž. Jovanović, on conducting religious instruction in elementary schools during the first and last hours of the day (as of April 3, 2012), is still in force. This Recommendation discriminates against the regular nature of religious instruction which was agreed upon in international contracts.