The Church of Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand in Poitiers (Vienne), the medieval monument listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, was targeted by arsonists on October 3, causing considerable material damage and damaged works of art.
On 14 September, the oratory of Migliarina church in Viareggio caught fire. The police suspect arson. The interior of the building was completely destroyed. According to the parish priest, young boys were in the oratory when the fire broke out and had to be evacuated by the fire brigade.
The police arrested a man for defacing the Sacré-Cœur church in Nice on September 6. He smashed several statues and threw a knife at a woman.
On the night of 1 September, a 39-year-old man set fire to the sacristy of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Omer. The flames then spread to the naves and then to the whole church. The bell tower and the roof were completely destroyed.
A large fire broke out on Sunday, 1 September at the Parish Church of the Holy Name in Greenisland, Northern Ireland. Police are treating the fire as arson. To local parish community is shocked by the incident.
On 23 August 2024, a 26-year-old Syrian man attacked several people at a city festival in Solingen. IS claimed authorship of the attack and announced via Amaq (IS news agency) that it was "directed against Christians." The attack left three people dead and eight wounded.
On the night from August 16 to 17, unknown persons destroyed a statue of Mary and other sacred objects in a chapel of a retirement home in Montecilfone.
A member of the Baptist church in Middlesborough was attacked by far-right protesters as he prayed alongside a rally on 4 August.
On August 1, a 40-year-old man violently pushed an elderly woman who was praying in St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church to the ground, kicked her and took her bag. As a result of the attack, the woman suffered a laceration to her head and was taken to hospital where she was stitched up.
On Sunday, July 21, a 46-year-old woman was arrested in Tudela, Navarra, after threatening the priest who was officiating the Sunday mass and the congregation with a cutter. According to the Municipal Police of Tudela, the woman not only threatened with the cutter, but also broke the glass of the entrance door of the church by throwing a stone. This act of vandalism increased the level of alarm among those present, who quickly called the authorities.
On July 13, fire was set to the church of St. Benedikt in the Allgäu community of Argenbühl-Eisenharz (Ravensburg district). This is already the second arson attack on the church this year. When the fire brigade arrived three pews were burning brightly, but the fire brigade was able to extinguish the fire quickly. However, according to initial estimates by the Catholic parish, severe damage was caused. The church is completely covered in soot.
On Wednesday afternoon, July 12, a group of young Christians aged between 16 and 23 were attacked on Lake Constance while they were reading bible verses over a megaphone on a rental boat.
On Monday evening, July 8, a man drove a truck into the Pentecostal Elim Church in Brunn am Gebirge, Austria. According to the police, this was a deliberate attack. The man confessed that he had acted out of anger, the perpetrator, however, is not known to the church.
On Sunday, June 30, a disturbing event shook took place during a church service in Dijon. During the Seventh-Day Adventist Sunday service, which assembled about a hundred faithful at around 11:00 a.m., an unidentified individual entered the building and sprayed the assembly with tear gas. This unexpected attack caused panic and dismay among the participants, nine of whom were injured.
As reported on 26th June, 100 year old Rossington Methodist church in Doncaster has been destroyed due to fire. It is believed to be an arson attack. The church was added to the Local Heritage List last year. It has been closed for worship since 2019.
On June 23, militant gunmen attacked two churches and two synagogues in Russia’s North Caucasus republic Debrent. While numbers vary with sources, at least 25 people have been killed, including 4 civilians, 19 police officers and one priest, Father Nikolai Kotelnikov, and at least 46 people have been injured. The Church of Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an Orthodox Church in Derbent, was also set on fire. It was the Pentecost Sunday for the Russian Orthodox Church. The Islamic terrorists allegedly screamed “Allahu Akbar”. These attacks against Christians and Jews happened in the Muslim-predominant Dagestan region of South Russia, bordering Georgia and Azerbaijan.
On June 22, the local priest of St. Michael's Church in Windischbergerdorf noticed a pungent smell inside the church. A wooden stand had been set on fire and the Bible was also covered with soot. Earlier, the priest has noticed 3 children riding away from the church on their bikes. The police believe that the fire was arson. The damage is estimated to be around 300 EUR.
On June 13, there was an arson attack on the Notre-Dame-de-Délivrance Basilica in Quintin. The police have confirmed that the fire was deliberate.
On June 3, a 43-year-old man tried to set fire on the Dmitry Donskoy Church Tyumen. He threw incendiary mixtures and fled on his bicycle, as filmed by an eyewitness. The police have now detained the man. The motives are still unknown.
As reported on 28th May, a 55 year old Frenchman has been arrested for driving his vehicle into the Cathedral of Rodez in Aveyron region. Fortunately, the SUV got stuck on the stairs leading up to the entrance and did not damage the Cathedral. According to witnesses, he was shouting “I hate Jesus” and “I hate Christianity”.
Saint-Sernin church in Brive became the target of two arson attempts on May 3 and May 6. Due to lack of resources to ensure continuous surveillance, the church is now closed.
On 29 April a fire was discovered inside the garages on the grounds of St Theresa’s of the Child of Jesus Church in St Helens. A window of the church was also found to have been smashed. The Detective Police Inspector, Jimmy Rotheram, commented: "It’s truly shocking that a church, which is such a valued resource and focal point for the community, has been targeted in this way."
On Friday morning, April 26, an unknown perpetrator tried to set fire to the church of San Bernardino Realino in Carpi. After attempting to steal the offering box, he set fire to the tablecloth in the side chapel.
The German national security forces have unearthed a terrorist cell of minors in Düsseldorf. According to the newspaper Bild, the youths wanted to attack "Christians ("unbelievers") in churches" and "police officers in police stations" with knives and Molotov cocktails in the name of the ISIS. Arrest warrants have been issued.
Two Children, one of them a 12-year-old boy, set a fire to the Serbian Orthodox Church of Our Lady in Feldkirch causing considerable damage. After searching the unlocked donation boxes for cash, they set the cloth at the altar in the back of the church on fire endangering liturgical objects.
A fire broke out in the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Agneaux on Thursday afternoon, April 4. According to police investigation's initial findings, the fire was intentional.
In the Church of St. Maksymilian Maria Kolbe in Bogatynia, a Mission Cross was chopped down over night.
Within 24 hours two fires hit the Saint-Serge Church in Angers. On April 2, the altar of the chapel of the Virgin Mary was set on fire. On the next day a fire broke out in front of the Saint-Ambroise statue. A suspect women was spotted and arrested by the police.
A 38-year-old disrupted the Holy Saturday celebrations at the All Saints parish in Jastrzębie-Zdrój. Entering the altar area, he loudly shouted vulgar words from the pulpit. When being asked to leave the altar stage, he attacked one of the liturgical servants as well as a police officer during arrest.
An Egyptian man with links to ISIS has been arrested over a suspected terrorist attack on the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris, as became known in the media on March 30. The man was arrested on March 5 by officers from the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI). Thanks to the work of the domestic intelligence services, the terrorist was identified, arrested for "criminal terrorist association" and placed in pre-trial detention.
In the night before Maundy Thursday, Easter crosses and the noticeboard of Baptist St John's Church in Alresford were vandalised.
On 22 March, a terrorist attack targeting an event location close to Moscow resulted in the deaths of at least 137 people. Gunmen armed with automatic weapons opened fire during a crowded concert at Crocus City Hall. ISIS statements claiming responsibility for the attack boasted of “killing Christians”.
An unknown man physically attacked a priest of the Diocese of Bačka of the Serbian Orthodox Church while he was performing regular parish duties on the street in Novi Sad. The perpetrator quickly walked away and escaped.
Early on Friday morning, March 1, St Matthew's Church in Berlin was the scene of several fires. The police suspect arson.
On February 29, a resident of Fresselines, on his way to the family crypt, discovered the unprecedented vandalism in the Creuse cemetery. Unknown perpetrators had desecrated around 40 graves: between some graves plates had been moved or broken, pots had been thrown to the ground. Some slabs had also been unscrewed and piled up on the ground. Stelae and plaques had been broken or moved.
On the afternoon of February 28, Christian missionary Lahzy Mahfonz Hefzalla Girgis has been attacked with pepper spray at Vienna’s central Stephansplatz. While Mr Girgis was having conversation with a Syrian person, two other allegedly Syrian men approached him. One of the Syrian men shouted "Jesus is God" mockingly and sprayed pepper spray into Mr Girgis' eyes. Lahzy Girgis had to be treated in hospital.
On February 26, the confessional in the Catholic Church of the Holy Cross was destroyed in a fire. According to the investigating authorities, a statue of a saint and a storage room were also damaged. A fire expert ruled out a technical defect on Friday, March 1, so the criminal investigation department in Neustadt is assuming arson.
The car belonging to Father Marcos was destroyed in an arson attack outside the church of Francolise near Caserta. The mayor has condemned this incident on social media.
On February 25 a Serbian Orthodox priest was physically attacked in Prizen. The attack took place as a bus of pilgrims from central Serbia arrived at a seminary Prizren where they wanted to attend the liturgy. The suspect parked his vehicle nearby and displayed a "KLA" flag on the front of the bus. He then verbally attacked and provoked the pilgrims. The priest, who was also on his way to the liturgy at the seminary, advised the pilgrims not to respond to provocations and to enter the Seminary as soon as possible. At that moment, the suspect physically assaulted the priest by pushing him, bending his arm, and attacking him.
On 24 February, an unknown person attempted to poison Father Felice Palamara, the parish priest of San Nicola di Pannaconi, by adding bleach to the altar wine. Police suspect the local Mafia behind the attack.
Unknown perpetrators broke into the parish church of St. Johann in Tirol, Austria, and stole and damaged religious objects. The figure of Christ was broken off a wooden cross.
Unknown perpetrators set fire to the parish church of St. Lambertus in Kalterherberg on Sunday. In the rear area of the interior of the church, prayer books, a shelf with parish letters and sheets from the Book of the Dead were set on fire in front of the wall with the memorial plaques. Opposite, at the Marian altar, the burning memorial lights were thrown down and artificial flowers were also lit.
On February 10, strangers left a message on the walls of the parish church of the Roman Catholic priest Father Pablo Pich Aguilera which could be translated into Spanish like this: “We are watching you, Pablo. We will abort.” The text is signed by Arran, a youth group of the Catalan separatist left.
Priest Don Giovanni Rigoli's car was set on fire by an unknown perpetrator. This happened after the celebration of a funeral in the parish church of Santo Stefano.
On January 28 at 11.40 local time two masked gunmen walked into a Sunday mass at the Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul's Sariyer district and fired two shots killing a person and leaving several injured. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.
On the night of January 22, 2024, an unknown person attacked the Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Longinus of Bancheny, severely striking the bishop in the face. Metropolitan Longin lost consciousness, and surgery was performed on his eyelids.
Members of "Defentsa Komunitatea", a youth section of the Basque independence and nationalist movement, interrupted a mass throwing leaflets and fake money. During the last weeks some churches in Azpeitia and Beasain, as well as churches in Lasao, Arroa and Aizarna, have also been vandalized by members of that same group.
On January 15, Father Giovanni Rigoli, the parish priest of Varapodio, was attacked and intimidated after a funeral service at the parish church of Santo Stefano.
On January 8, the Holy Monastery of Stavronikita on Mount Athos suffered an arson attack. A 63-year-old man has been arrested, after being reported by one of the monks as the suspected perpetrator, and he confessed to being involved in the arson attack.
On January 7, unknown perpetrators started a fire in front of the church in Pula. As a witness reported, the vandals placed two burning boards in front of the large wooden door, which was quickly engulfed by the fire. The police have started an investigation and are looking for the perpetrators. The church held a mass on the same day to pray for the ones who committed the act.