All cases

Arsonists Set Several Fires At the Franciscan church in Austria

November 2, 2022, Austria

In a Berchtesgaden Franciscan church, on the 2nd of November, a churchgoer noticed a fire on an offering candlestick. He then discovered that between the candles there was a burning Divine Praise hymnal and floral decorations. She quickly alerted the Father, with whom they managed to extinguish the fire. Two other fires were discovered, which were also started by placing hymn books on burning candles. The fire brigade was called and they ventilated the church. The police were looking for information, they are treating the case as arson.

Swastica Tagged on Church in Italy

November 2, 2022, Italy

On the walls of the Church of San Giuseppe in Intra, unknown vandals painted Swastikas of various sizes and other phrases. The writings are mostly covering the walls facing the entrance. The municipal police are looking for the perpetrators and the curia will see that the inscriptions are removed.

Graffiti with Islamic Slogans Smeared on church in Germany

November 2, 2022, Germany

A Church in the Gütersloh district in Rheda-Wiedenbrück has been smeared with Islamist slogans. The church had been renovated two years ago. The parish dean, Reinhard Edeler, has expressed anger and sadness at the scene. The incident was reported at the beginning of November. The parish dean has notified the State security services.

Unknown persons vandalize and set fire to church in Germany

November 2, 2022, Germany

An employee of the parish had unlocked the 700-year-old house of worship on Wednesday morning (2.11.2022), 8 o'clock. When he returned to the church around 11 a.m., he noticed that several stacks of brochures on a table in the church were on fire. "It was only by chance and the quick and courageous intervention of a church employee that the church in Helmstedt did not go up in flames". The regionalHeute.de news source reported the incident.

UK street preacher found not guilty of "hate speech"

November 2, 2022, United Kingdom

Christian Concern reports that Shaun O’Sullivan, a Christian preacher who was arrested for criticising Muhammad and Buddha, has been found not guilty following a court hearing. O’Sullivan was arrested in Swindon Town Centre on 11 March 2020, for alleged ‘hate speech’ and for causing "harassment, alarm and distress."

Russian Orthodox Church vandalized with graffiti in Germany

November 1, 2022, Germany

The Russian Orthodox Church in Leipzig was covered with graffiti of Russian propaganda war symbols on Tuesday night (1. November), according to the police. On the entrance door, the [Z] military symbol was drawn with red paint by unidentified perpetrators. The police also found a second illegible graffiti in front of the church, it is unclear if both graffiti are connected. The police are investigating.

Vandalism and arson Against church in Belgium

November 1, 2022, Belgium

The parish church of Our Lady of Lourdes on the Slinkerstraat in Heide-Heuvel was targeted by unknown vandals. The perpetrators shattered a large window, presumably by using a slingshot. They also set a fire at the church premises. The police have been notified and are investigating. The incident was communicated on the 1st of November. According to the news source, this is not the first time the church has been vandalised or targeted by arsonists.

Church Stained Glass Windows and Trees Vandalized in the Netherlands

November 1, 2022, Netherlands

The St Martin's Church in 't Veld has filed another report of vandalism at the police station. Ten shots were fired at the windows on the 27. October. And a couple of days later, vandals snapped in half two prunus trees in the garden near the house of worship. "We have asked the police to make an extra round at the church from time to time anyway, because apparently vandals are targeting us," says church board chairman Hans Glas.

Russian drone attack damages church in Ukraine Causing Death of Priest

November 1, 2022, Ukraine

On the 1. November 2022 at 3 a.m. the World of Life congregation in Poltava suffered under a Russian drone attack. Two church employees managed to escape but the pastor, Vladimir Kurshun, was killed.

Theft and Desecration at Carnac Cemeteries

November 1, 2022, France

On the 1st of November it was reported that over several days, the cemeteries of Carnac have been victims of theft and vandalism. The municipality of Morbihan is raising awareness about this issue. The damages included vandalism to equipment, thefts of watering cans, stolen walkers for people with reduced mobility, padlocks forced open of the cemetery entrance, among others. The graves were also targeted, as flowers were stolen and steles were broken.

15th-Century Church Defaced with Graffiti

October 31, 2022, Italy

In the city of Loseto, the 15th-century Church of the Santissimo Salvatore was vandalised on the 31st of October, at night. The organisation Retake Bari reported that unknown persons vandalised the church with red spray paint. City councillor Antonio Ciaula said: 'Tomorrow I will personally take action at the competent offices and in the council commissions, to restore the proper decorum to the little church, eliminating a disfigurement that, in addition to defacing the park, painfully marks the hearts and faces of all of us.

Vandals destroy Christian symbols during Halloween in Poland

October 31, 2022, Poland

On the night of October 31. to November 1st, a statue of Mary was smashed in the parish of Corpus Christi and St. Mary of Czestochowa in Wierzbice. There was also damage done to the tombstone of a nun. The newspaper reports the statue of the Mother of God was very meaningful for the parishioners. The parish priest, Leszek Bajorski, suspects that youths who were at Halloween parties were responsible for the damage. The case has been reported to the police.

Arson to Church in Russia

October 30, 2022, Russia

On Sunday, October 30, the rector of the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called on Vuoksa (Vasilevo village, Priozersky district of Leningrad region) contacted the police. He reported that unknown perpetrators tried to set fire to the structure of a wooden church. The fire burned part of the outer wall of the church. The vandals also broke down the gate to the bridge leading to the temple. The rector of the temple said that he had not had conflicts with anyone.

Vandalism and theft in a church in Chuvashia

October 30, 2022, Russia

On the morning of October 30, the police were contacted by of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Churachiki, who discovered the loss of silver jewelry from a casket in a church shop and an opened donation box. The attacker entered the temple by breaking a window.

San Lorenzo Church Defaced in Chiavenna, Italy

October 29, 2022, Italy

On the 29th of October, the San Lorenzo Church in Chiavenna was defaced with graffiti. Unknown vandals left inscriptions and markings in red paint in the portico, the oratory and the neighbouring buildings of the religious site. According to the graffiti, it looks like it was perpetrated by the same person or group of persons.

Man Defaced Collegiate Church of San Lorenzo in Italy

October 29, 2022, Italy

In Chiavenna, a man defaced the perimeter walls of the Collegiate Church of San Lorenzo and some streets in the town centre. He was tracked down and identified by the Carabinieri of the Operative and Radiomobile Nucleus of the Chiavenna Company. The perpetrator was arrested on the 29th of October by the Carabinieri after he had defaced the walls in Via Bossi and Via Cereria. He was found in possession of several cans of spray paint and various indelible pens of different colours. The man, a Northern European national, admitted to the Carabinieri that on the evening of 29 October he had also defaced the perimeter walls of the Collegiate Church, part of the façade of the San Luigi Oratory and a wall along Via Bottonera using red and black spray paint. He has been reported for the offences of defacing things of historical and artistic interest.

Russian Orthodox Church vandalized in Switzerland

October 28, 2022, Switzerland

The Russian Embassy in Switzerland reported that: “In the early hours of October 28, 2022, unidentified offenders committed an act of vandalism by splattering paint on the entrance to the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Geneva, which is a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church.”

Windows of Protestant church damaged

October 28, 2022, Germany

Between the 22. and 28. of October, the windows of the Protestant church in Urspringen were damaged by unknown perpetrators. An employee of the church filed a complaint for damage to property. She had found four small holes in the windows of the church. According to the police, the affected panes are at a height of three metres. The damage amounts to about 500 euros.

Violent Man Vandalises church in Switzerland

October 27, 2022, Switzerland

In the morning of October 27. a man vandalised the church of San Carlo in Lugano. First, holding a vase of flowers, he hit the protective glass of the statue of the Virgin above the altar. Then he used a candleholder to destroy other statues and objects in the church, including decapitating a plaster statue of Padre Pio. The sacristan's wife, assisted by another person, locked the intruder in the church and called the police. The sacristan, who arrived at the church shortly after, tried to stop the intruder, who then attempted to assault him.

Arsonist sets fire to a church in Transcarpathia, Ukraine

October 27, 2022, Ukraine

On October 27 a 61-year-old man set seven buildings on fire, included the local church, in Dyula, a Ukrainian village near the border with Romania with about 1,500 inhabitants. He was later arrested and faces up to 10 years in prison.