Man Arrested After He desecrated and vandalized an Austrian Church

Country: Austria

Date of incident: May 8, 2023


On the 9th of May, the Police of Salzburg have arrested a man who hurled a bottle of red wine he had brought with full force against the high altar on Monday morning in the parish church of Schwarzach im Pongau. Thus, two altar lights were knocked over and the offering table and brickwork were contaminated by the wine. The man had entered the church loudly ranting and gesticulating aggressively and spat at a statue of Christ. The man - a Czech citizen who is banned from staying in Austria - was filmed in the church by two video cameras.

Source: Oberösterreichisches Volksblatt

Symbolic illustration by Josh Eckstein on Unsplash