Church attacked after postings inciting violence against Christians
On the morning of 3 October, a group of masked individuals used climbing equipment to scale the balustrade of St Charles Church in Vienna and remove a banner promoting the March for Life. Left-wing extremist groups are suspected of having damaged the property of the Karlskirche over a long period of time and of having verbally abused and threatened the elderly priest.
The banner promoted the March for Life, which took place on 5 October in front of the Karlskirche. It read "#UnbornLivesMatter".
The incident came after posts inciting violence against the Austrian pro-life march were circulated on social media. One of the images shows a man dressed in black with a pointed hook holding a Christian, recognisable by a cross, by the collar.
"Anti-Christian incidents are on the rise all over Austria, and many of them happen completely unnoticed by the public, for example in schools," said Jan Ledóchowski, chairman of the new online plattform christenschutz.at, which was founded to document anti-Christian incidents in the country.
Source: OTS, www.kath.net
Picture: mfleben.at