Molotov Cocktail Thrown at Church

Country: Italy

Date of incident: January 10, 2019


"The true martyrs are in the sea" was painted on the wall of the church of San Rocco in Rovereto as the signature of the vandals who threw an incendiary device at the church, setting fire to the door. The attack appears to have been in response to a controversial nativity scene set up to "raise awareness of the tragedy of abortion which condemns children to a real martyrdom."

The wooden door was burned, and smoke damaged interior plaster and works of art inside the church. No one was injured.

The church had been at the center of the controversy a few days before the attack because the 'Sentinelle in piedi' group had set up a nativity scene with dozens of plastic fake human fetuses scattered on the path of the Three Kings, with the words "The Massacre of the Innocents continues..."

President of the Province of Trento Maurizio Fugatti condemned the attack:

"Expressing one's thoughts by damaging the symbols and property of others, with violence and arrogance, is always wrong. In a democracy there are other ways to express one's ideas. Whoever set fire to the entrance of the church of San Rocco in Rovereto, is an enemy of dialogue and peaceful confrontation."

Police opened an investigation.

Sources: Giornale Trentino, L'Adige, In Terris, Giornale Trentino, and Giornale Trentino