French member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe proposed a report on the protection of children against 'sectarian drifts' which possibly collides with the parents' right to religious education of their choice.
Participants in Spain’s first annual Crossroads walk, a Christian-inspired cross-country march for the right to life, were confronted with a group of angry Greenpeace activists, who were peeved by the walkers’ pro-life position, and suffered insults, severe threats of violence and graffiti on their RV.
A former senior advisor to Nick Clegg says supporters of traditional marriage are “bigots” and Mr Clegg should have said so too in a speech but changed it after public furor.
In Hirschhorn (Odenwald) on the 4th Sept. 2012 the Evangelical church was desecrated.
Perpetrators broke into the cathedral of Werden in Essen and stole the donation boxes creating several thousand euros worth of damage.
The movie “Paradise: Faith”, shown at the film festival in Venice, scandalized the audience because of a masturbation scene using a cross.
During a biology class a Swedish high school student spoke up and called homosexuality an “abnormal sexual orientation”. As a result of this comment the teacher flunked the student. The reasoning of the teacher is that it is the task of the educational system to teach pupils respect for all sexual orientations. The opposing view of the student doesn’t correspond to the curriculum’s goal.
Numerous churches in the Turkish occupied area of Cyprus were profaned and turned into storage rooms, museums and mosques.
The City of Broue ordered the removal of a cross at the entrance to the city cemetery at the instigation of a counsellor, saying that "the cemetery is a public building; there should be no religious symbols." This was done "in the name of tolerance."
Due to increased tourism from Middle Eastern countries, the management of the Zugspitze Railway in Bavaria produced an advertisement leaflet of the mountain “Zugspitze” without an image of the summit cross. Churches protested.
The Judge of London’s Royal Court of Justice ruled on August 10th that the life support system of an 8-year- old boy may be switched off by team of doctors, ignoring parents’ wish to keep him alive.
In the night of August 22nd to 23rd, a desecration took place in the garden of the Abbey of Saint-Jacut-sur-Mer (Bretagne): a cross has been stolen. On the night of August 25th to 26th, the chapel of Locmaria Carnac was desecrated and the number 6 had been tagged on the walls.
The parish building in Klotten and Pommern and the sacristy of the church in Bremm were broken into by burglars looking for money.
On 22nd August 2012 unknown perpetrators desecrated a chapel of Saint Anthony in Naklo, Slovenia. They wrote the word "Satan" on the floor and words like "You worship the wrong God" on one of the frescos with a black grafitti. On another fresco they drew a cross turned upside down.
On August 21, 2012, the Holy See National Contact Point of the Apostolic Nunciature in Croatia reported that in the sanctuary of the Madonna of Trsat, Rijeka, golden jewels of the image of Mary, the mother of Jesus were stolen.
An unidentified perpetrator broke into the sacristy of a Church in Treis and attempted to steal money. The police did not release the amount of the damage.
On August 16 six graves had their graves stones displaces, vases and candleholders broken by unknown intruders. This was discovered by a town employee who notified the police.
In Bötzingen (Freiburg) on the 16th of August one or perhaps more perpetrators broke into the Catholic Church on the main street in Bötzingen, destroying the decorations around the church. The perpetrators also defiled the sacred space by urinating and splashed holy water on an open torn up bible. More damage has also been detected in several pipes of the organ.
A large publicity poster at the entrance to a cultural center in Kassel shows the caricature of Jesus on the Cross including an offensive caption which caused strong indignation among Christians living in Kassel.
The chapel of Saint-Sébastien in the region of le Gard, France, suffered an arson attack which partially destroyed the wooden part of the altar. This was not the first attack on the chapel.
The Austrian Initiative “Religion is a private matter” seeks to deprive the Russian-orthodox Church in Vienna of its legal personality because of its involvement in the “Pussy Riot” case.
On August 6th, 2012, graves in Balbieriškis were vandalised.
Mariusz Dzierżawski, founder of the Warsaw-based PRO Foundation – Right to Life, and a fellow PRO Foundation member were arrested by the local governmental authorities during an approved anti-abortion rally at the entrance of the Woodstock Festival held in the western Polish city of Kostrzyn.
In Angel (Sachsen), the church of St. Pancras was desecrated, sacred chalices and alms for the poorest were stolen.
On July 28th, 2012 there were demonstrations against a newly opened church in Denizli. The church did not shut down but security matters were increased and no one got hurt.
In Münster-Gremmendorf (Westphalia) the church of St. Ida was desecrated. Sacred vestments were thrown into the gutter, the sacred space was desecrated and the Sacristy broken into. Donations for the poor stolen as well.
In Herzberg a Christian cemetery and place for the exhibition of the dead was devastated.
On the 27th of July 2012, graves and mourning areas in Herzberg, Germany were desecrated. This was reported by the Apostolic Nunciature of Germany.
More than 80 pro-abortion-activists attacked the pro-life manifestation “1000 Crosses-March” organized by the Youth for Life and Human Life International in Salzburg-City. Blockages, insults and windows smashed kept a large number of police busy.
American entertainer Madonna tours the world with her show MDNA. The song and video “Nobody Knows Me,” which is part of Madonna’s MDNA Tour, defames Christians and creates anti-Christian stereotypes.
The Salzburg-based NGO „Infoladen“ calls for violence against Christians when expressing pro-life views. In July they called for a counter-demonstration against a pro-life manifestation. „Let’s make their 1000-crosses-manifestation a disaster!“ and „Sink the 1000 crosses!“ are some of the slogans on their website.
Unidentified perpetrators broke into the church of the Holy Cross through a broken window. They stole a donation box with a few euros. Police are investigating.
A significant number of Catholic refugee families plan to come back to Bosnia- Herzegovina, but the Bosnian Government does not offer assistance in rebuilding their houses and restoring infrastructure. 800 families have turned to the Catholic Church for help. Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka declared that it is actually the task of the government to provide support. He complained about the lack of political will on the part of the government and the international community to enable Catholics to return to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In July 2012 the Apostolic Nunciature of France reported that 40 graves were desecrated by (an) unknown perpetrator(s) in Saint-Etienne-à-Arnes in Ardennes, France.
Burglars forced their way into churches in Kirspenich, Schönau and Nemmenich and plundered the donation boxes.
A robber broke into the church in Eckerförde and stole the money being collected for the poor out of the offertory boxes. He left an apologetic message in the visitors book.
The liberal party VVD (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie) tabled a proposal in the second chamber of the parliament to prohibit the use of conscientious objection for registrars with regard to conducting gay marriages. There seems to be a majority in the parliament to support this proposal. The topic is expected to be debated until the end of the year 2012.
On the 4th of July 2012 an amendment of the law on public officers was proposed by the members Koser Kaya and Van Hijum to the Dutch Parliament: It calls for the dismissal of registrars for marriages, births and deaths who refuse to perform same-sex marriages on conscientious grounds - if not sufficient other tasks could be found for him or her. The proposal also seeks to establish a mandatory training of students studying to be a registrar on performing same-sex marriages.
Church leaders in the Diriliş church of Konak were repeatedly verbally harassed and were attacked by teenagers with eggs. When the teens threatened one of the leaders with a gun, the parents were informed and the attacks stopped.
The German Magazine "Titanic" presents the pope as a senile for incontinent person by depicting him in a fotomontage with a large urine stain on his white clothes while giving a blessing.
A French retired doctor faced police investigation for trial because of giving a woman who intended an abortion knitted baby shoes and a medallion. In France “moral and psychological pressure” seen as an “hindrance of abortion” is punishable.
About 10 MPs of the anti-clerical “Palikot Movement” seek to enforce the removal of the Cross in the Polish Parliament by legal proceedings at the Administrative Court.
Two young men, 18 and 22 years old, known to police from past attempted burglaries in St. Nicolas church and the church of St. Mary; were caught in the act of burglary in the Holy Spirit church. They cracked several donation boxes and stole the coins.
In Bergtheide (Lübeck) the Catholic church has been broken into, the Altar was completely desecrated. Donations for the poorest were stolen and sacred artifacts defiled and partly destroyed. Church had to be ritually cleansed and blessed anew.
Unknown perpetrators broke into the church of St. Bernard and caused serious property damage. A candlestick was dragged from the side chapel and used to break the offertory box and the money inside was stolen. The money box under the statue of Saint Anthony was torn out of the wall. Many doors were damaged and the cupboards in the sacristy were opened, searched and turned upside down.
Posters of an Irish organisation that opposes legalisation of abortion „Youth Defense“ were devastated and sprayed upon with offensive graffiti all around Dublin. The posters were covered with paint and torn down and the video of that act appeared in social media.
Several English – speaking Christian families who home educate their children in Austria have come under pressure by the Austrian school authorities for educating their children in English. They have been fined and threatened with the children being taken away – even though there are schools in Austria which teach exclusively in English.
June 17th 2012, the walls of a church in Vilnius were spray painted with writing.
About 70 Christians demonstrated in a prayerful and peaceful walk against the Vienna "Gay pride parade" in Vienna on June 16th. They were attacked by counterdemonstration of activists for a homosexual agenda.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church is forced to marry same sex couples after vote of Danish Parliament.
The General Medical Council’s Investigation Committee has reprimanded a Christian doctor for sharing his faith with a patient at the end of a private consultation.
In Haltingen in Weil am Rhein, for the second time this year, a Protestant church was desecrated - the police expressed their surprise as there is not much to gain by breaking into a church. According to the police, there must be other motives than robbery as statistically this has not happened as much in others houses of prayer, such as mosques or synagogues.
The Holy See reported three cases of verbal assaults against Christians in Italy on the following dates: 23 January 2012 February 2012 12 June 2012
The Apostolic Nunciature of Croatia reported that over an unknown period of time, graves were plundered by chapel workers in Osijek, Croatia.
Georges Fenech, the president of the interministerial mission MIVILUDES, an acronym for Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires (Interministerial Mission for Monitoring and Combatting Cultic Deviances), appointed to this position by François Fillon in 2008 and renewed in 2011, was convicted by the Paris criminal court on June 1, 2012 for public defamation.
On June 1, an unknown person entered the parish church of St. Johann Evangelist on Keplerplatz and destroyed several windows in the second entrance doors located inside the church.
Unidentified perpetrators broke into the parish office of the Church of Our Lady. There they took a key of the church opposite which they entered and ransacked. They caused damage in the church sacristy, broke a cabinet and stole a monstrance and an altar cross.
Windows were broken by someone throwing stones at them in the gym of the Catholic School Centre in Travnik, Bosnia-Herzegovina, between the 27th and the 28th of May 2012.
Medical Student, Carolin, 24: “I had to do an internship in a gynecology department, and I can tell you that when there is only one nurse for the whole department, you better forget about your conscientious objection.”
The Law Society has revoked the booking of a Christian conférence on marriage to be held by Christian Concern and other organisations because it considered it "contrary to its ‘diversity’ Policy".
A unknown perpetrator broke through a window into the Petersburg church of St. John. All the rooms were searched and eventually he fled with only five Euros from the church.
In Bürstadt (Idstein) the St. Martin's Church was desecrated. The offertory for the poor was torn down and the holy sanctuary desecrated.
In Bispingen (Walsrode) the local church was desecrated. There were anti-Christian graffiti sprayed across the walls and satanic symbols drawn on the dais in the sanctuary. Also, the outer wall was ruined.
The city council of Alcala adopted a motion banning bishop Juan Antonia Reig Pla from official city events. The motion answers the bishop's remarks criticizing homosexual lifestyle.
A prominent British Christian conservative blogger is under attack from a government agency, at the behest of a homosexualist activist group, for supporting the defence of traditional marriage.
A 2-meter-tall statue of Jesus was attacked at a cemetory in Pausa/Saxony. The vandals beheaded the statue and hit the head until it broke into pieces. They left with the face. Pastor Frank Pierel is shocked and saddened and reports that such attacks take place rather frequently in his area. The material damage amounts to 3000 Euro.
Between the 12th and 13th of May 2012, someone broke into a church in Dolina, Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina. While doing so, the perpetrator(s) caused significant damage to the front door.
On Thursday, the 10th of May, Dean Verzel, together with a few adherents, set the XVIIth century votive cross of Strujan on fire. The artist Dean Verzel and photographer Goran Bertok carried out the same act 10 years ago but were acquitted in court.
On May 9th 2012, a church in Pastuva was set on fire and burned to the ground.
Four Chrisitan graves were vandalised and tagged with anti-Christian wordings the cemetery of Canohès in the Easter Pyrenees.
Christian doctor who was sacked for emailing a prayer to his colleagues has lost his clam for unfair dismissal, after an Employment Tribunal ruled that there was “no need” for religious references to be made at work.
The Irish Justice Minister has introduced a 5-year prison sentences for priests who fail to report sex abuse of minors if they hear about it in the confessional.
Secular campaigners have launched an attack on the Roman Catholic Church for urging its secondary schools to back the current legal definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.
Reformed-baptist parents, who wanted to homeschool their three children, lost in the regional administrational court of Baden-Würtemberg in Mannheim. The parents wanted to homeschool to protect their children from a form of „emancipation“ they did not favor, as well as in order to teach them Christian sexual ethics.
Homosexual activists lobby for the proscecution of Bishop Juan Antonio Reig Pla of Alcala de Henares for preaching the Catholic Church’s position on homosexual acts. An international group of Catholic doctors defends the bishop.
The Conservatory of Public Schools in refuses entrance to pupils from private Catholic schools. Director Jean-Louis Robert said: “This museum is for pupils of state schools only. We refuse that children from Catholic schools go to this museum. It’s our right and that’s how it is.”
The Church of the 'Bon Pasteur' was visited by vandals who tried to put it on fire after having done much damages.
Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party mayor of London, ordered bus advertisements for overcoming same-sex attraction to be stopped. The campaign had been cleared by the Advertising Authority, and was designed to be an answer to a pro-homosexual campaign.
Since the presidency of MIVILUDES (Interministerial Mission of Vigilance and Fight against Sectarian Drifts) by Georges Fenech, several small Catholic communities have increasingly been targeted, the last one being "Amour and Miséricorde" (Love and Mercy).
On Good Saturday, just a few hours before the Easter Vigil, three men entered the Church of Cruseilles (Haute-Savoie) and set fire to leaflets, prayer and singing books. An altar’s tablecoth was also burnt and the main altar damaged.
The LGBT association “Arc-enCiel Wallonie” runs a campaign based on 33 different pro-LGBT T-shirts. Among various messages, three of them offend Christianity: “Jesus too had two dads”, “Marie, first surrogate mother” and “GOD made me gay” (two first ones originally in French: “Jésus aussi avait deux papas”, “Marie première mère porteuse”).
On April 7th, 2012 in Istambul, four men requested to enter a church. When the church leader told them to come back the next day because it was too late in the day, they threatened to kill him unless he recited the Muslim creed. Then they hit him and fled the place, the church later installed security systems.
The Catholic Schützenverein voted in March 450 to 28 to not to allow homosexual or lesbian „kings“ or „queens“ to preside activities together with their partners. The German federal anti-discrimination commission screened this decision and declared it to be in disrespect of the law.
"Would Christ have been Gay?" is the name of the exhibition in Neufchâtel, displayed from March 29th to May 12th in the 'Galerie C' of Neufchâtel (Switzerland). The four artist argue that they wanted to explore - through art - the question of Christ’s sexuality.
It is not the first time the pop star Madonna uses the bashing of Catholicism as a base for the writing of her lyrics. “Girl Gone Wild” begins with the first few lines of the Roman-Catholic Act of Contrition as it shows the 53-year-old singer in black tight pants and stiletto heels while surrounded by topless men.
The doors of seven churches of Couvin, in the diocese of Namur, Belgium, were targeted by vandals. The front door of the church of Couvin was marked in white paint saying "Religion is the opium of the people".
The 14th edition of the European Championship Euro 2012, organized by the European Union of Football Associations (UEFA), will take place from June 8th to July 1st, 2012 in Poland and in the Ukraine. The leaders of the Polish Football Association have indicated the certain objects that will be forbidden to spectators in stadiums. Among these objects, crosses and Bibles are stated as part of the category of "racist and xenophobic materials, based on political and religious propaganda."
On the 20th of March 2012 the Apostolic Nunciature in Croatia reported that a cemetery in the city of Suhopole, Croatia, had been vandalised.
About fifteen people came to St Eloi’s church to insult parishioners at the end of Sunday Mass. It is not the first time this Catholic church is targeted by anti-Christian acts, as it had already been covered whith tags and anti-Christian posters.
On the 18th of March, 2012, a church in Pozor, Bosnia Herzegovina, noticed that some of its inventory had been damaged, as well as some of its money stolen.
An online call to “see churches burning” was published as a “Christmas wish” in 2011 by a group of leftwing extremists called 'Antifa Freiburg'. “We will not give up hope that there will be a miracle and we can warm ourselves next year at the glow of burning churches.” Prosecution investigated but dropped the case.
The French Channel Direct8 has streamed a new episode of the show "Very bad blagues" called "When one’s an apostle" ("Quand on est apôtre") which mocks the last supper.
A 12-year-old boy, Hussein, witnessed his Christian faith by wearing a silver cross necklace in school. Muslim classmates taunted and spat on him. When the boy threatened to report one of the bullies, the bully's father threatened to "kill him". He says he also received a beating by his religion teacher.
Catholics and non-Catholics alike have reacted to a viciously anti-Catholic full-page advertisement in Friday’s New York Times. The ‘Freedom From Religion Foundation’s ad, which takes the form of a letter to a “liberal Catholic”, asks “Cafeteria” Catholics, “Why are you propping up the pillars of a tyrannical and autocratic, woman-hating, sex-perverting, antediluvian Old Boys Club?” The Freedom from Religious Foundation is led by Annie Laurie Gaylor and her husband, Dan Barker. Gaylor is author of the book, Abortion Is a Blessing.
A new provocative action was carried out by the occupying regime in Cyprus when Bishop of Karpasia Mr. Christoforos was not allowed to enter the occupied area from the barricade of Astromeritis village. Later, he was also prohibited to go into one area of Agios Dometios. The bishop was stopped without explanation.
The celebrity singer Will Young has suggested that clergy should be put in jail for speaking out too strongly against same-sex marriage.
The most influential leader in the Muslim world issued a fatwa to destroy Christian churches. Response to this call is also possible in European countries.
A homosexual activist disrupted a Mass held in a parish in Teignmouth, Devon, with a video camera last week as a priest prepared to read a letter from the country’s bishops conference opposing government efforts to legalize same-sex “marriage.”
A nun was physically assaulted in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, on the 11th of March 2012,the Apostolic Nunciature in Bosnia-Herzegovina reported. While she was walking down the street, an attacker punched her and she fell to the ground.
The Church of St. Martin, in Herblay, was the target of an arson attack on Thursday, March 8th, 2011. The fire was started in three different areas of the church but was stopped in time by a parishioner.