On Tuesday 3rd March, several individuals placed a burning newspaper on the organ loft of the Catholic Church St. Eusebius in Grenchen. The fire was brought under control by the witnesses before the firemen arrived. The flames left damage on the furniture which is estimated on several hundred francs and the smoke filled the church.
According to the Spanish Ministry, they will consider imposing "significant sanctions" on an Evangelical church in Madrid that exceeds 20,000 euros. In this church, therapies to cure homosexuality were offered and carried out. Now it is to be examined whether the church has thereby violated the Spanish LGBTQ law. "We will not tolerate any regression in our society and in what we have in our hands, which is to impose sanctions, we will not shake hands, we will not take a step back in the fight against LGTBIphobic behaviour," said Alberto Reyero, Minister of Social Policies.
News reports indicate that the Greek Orthodox church of St. George was ransacked on March 2nd. According to witnesses, the vandalism was caused by refugees residing on the island. This news came as tensions ran high due to the arrival of hundreds of refugees and migrants after Turkey "opened the doors" for them to enter Europe.
Media portrayed Christian women as anti-abortion activists and harassers. They are also being targeted on the doorsteps of abortion clinics.
On March 2nd, member of the Finnish Parliament Päivi Räsänen faced a police interrogation because of a tweet she posted in June 2019. The tweet was directed at the leadership of her church and questioned its official sponsorship of the LGBT event “Pride 2019”, accompanied by an image of a bible text.
Due to several weeks of vandalism and misuse, demonstrated by, for example, red wine stains found between pews in the church of Saint Gallus in Rangendingen, the parish will only be open during church services. Also, food remains and broken glass were found in front of the Church door. Not only the Church was victim of vandalism, the mortuary in the cemetery was also targeted. Similar incidents have also happened in the neighbouring city Steinhofen. Anyone who has made observations about the incidents should contact the parish office, Father Artur Schreiber, phone 07476/ 13 32, or any police department.
In the last days, the church of Ennezat (Puy-de-Dôme) was profaned twice. On March 2nd and the week before, prayer books have been gathered in a corner and set on fire, luckily the damage to the church caused by the fire was not severe. Furthermore, candles were broken, fire extinguisher were damaged and the pampas grass contained in a jar was stolen. The church is closed until further notice. The police are investigating.
On 2nd March, the small church of Saint George near the village of Moria on the Island of Lesbos was vandalized by unknown perpetrators. Some locals blamed a group of migrants that live at the nearby camp, claiming that it happened when the police prevented a march of migrants demanding to be transferred to Athens. The perpetrators destroyed icons and furniture. According to the locals, the church has been vandalized several times.
During the night from March 1st to March 2nd, someone broke into and vandalized the church of Trémorel (Côtes-d'Armor). The tabernacle was destroyed and the consecrated hosts were found scattered on the ground.
A 18-year-old-man smashed several windows and doors of the church of the Resurrection and the nearby Martin Luther house on March 1st, using stones. He was cought by the police on the same day.
The church of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother in Montesilvano was covered in orange paint on March 1st. An unknown perpetrator painted the walls of the church and over the statue of Jesus Christ in front of this religious building.
On New Years Eve, 25 windows were broken on the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig by thrown stones. If people would have been inside, it could have been quite dangerous said pastor Britta Taddiken.
On February 7th to February 8th 2020, an unknown person broke into a polish church in Kędzierzynie. The monstrance and the mass chalice were stolen and the tabernacle has been opened. Additionally, the Blessed Sacrament and consecrated messages were poured onto the altar. The damage amounts to 10.000 zlotys.
Due to many recent acts of vandalism at churches in Arcene, municipalities have started using video surveillance systems and photo traps for the identification of the perpetrators.The last incident occured in the night between February 29th and March 1st where unknown people damaged the churchyard of San Rocco by leaving alcohol bottles and dirt as food, glasses, shopping bags and cans.
On Saturday 29th, all candles in the church of Theresienfeld were found lit, the altar was covered in food remains, and cigarettes and paper was burned at the entrance of the church. The park bench at the nearby bus stop was also set on fire.
On February 28th, a perpetrator lit two candles and placed them placed one on top of and the other under the bench in the church of Remigius in Borken. The candles were discovered and put out at 17:55 by a witness. This led to minor damage.
On the 28th of February, perpetrators desecrated the tabernacle and stole the sacred Hosts from the Church of San Carlo in Pavignano. The police started an investigation. They suspect a satanistic bias, for no things of valor were stolen.
Several Christian graves were vandalized in the cemetery of Andancette. A family who went to the grave of a loved one noticed the damage and alerted the gendarmes on Sunday morning. According to the mayor of Andancette, "around fifteen graves have been damaged with crucifixes, gravestones and plaques broken."
During the night between February 26th and 27th unknown perpetrators broke into the church Saint Michael in Vöhringen, damaged several doors, opened the tabernacle by force and stole two ciboria filled with consecrated hosts. The financial damage amounts to 20,000 euros and the religious loss is incalculable.
On the 25th February, the facade of the Gottsunda Church in Uppsala was set on fire. The fire is suspected to have been provoked. The police patrol discovered the fire, because the flames were several meters high and they called the rescue services. The church was made of wooden, so it took several damages to the facade and the inside. The fire looks like it was intended and the police is investigating a suspicious car which was captured by the cameras. No suspects have been arrested.
On February 25th, an unknown person broke a door handle, attempted to force a display case, overturned statues, and broke the hands of the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes in the collegiate church of Notre-Dame de Villefranche-de-Rouergue in Aveyron.
In Limerzel, the statue of Notre-Dame de la Salette, dated from 1953, was found beheaded.
Unknown vandals damaged the church of St. John Bosco on 23 February. Father Sébastien Petitjean, the parish preist, and Daniel Latta, president of the factory council, visited the site. "We believe that these acts were committed during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, or even the night before. The damage was done with violence because the stained glass is thick, armed with a metal structure," said the president. Gabriel Muller asked the technical services workers to intervene immediately. "Repairs are underway to restore the church to its original function. We have asked the municipal police and the gendarmerie to investigate. The installed cameras will probably talk. » The investigation is still ongoing.
A blasphemous cartoon of the Pope and the Church was published by the Newspaper "El Diario", showing the Pope with a huge bag of money, paying the media.
An unknown person profaned the church of Christ The Redeemer in Konskie by writing: "You have god 666" (this number is a symbol of Satan in the bible) on the church walls. The inscription has been removed and a penitential service has been held in the church.
Due to repeated vandalism, drug-dealing, and abuse of volunteers in the Holy Trinity Church in Exmouth, a surveillance system with seven cameras will be installed as a "necessary security measure."
On the night between Sunday, February 24, 2020, to Monday, February 24, 2020, the Saint-Louis Cathedral and the statue of Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc were covered with tags
Parishioners discovered vandalism, desecration, and theft in the Saint-Saturnin-de-Séchaud church in Port d'Envaux on February 22nd. They found the door of the sacristy broken, the door of the tabernacle forced open, consecrated hosts stolen, and the altar of the Virgin Mary damaged. All objects of value were stolen from the sacristy.
On February 22th , the Saint Nicolás cross from the 17th century in Avilés was set on fire. Young people poured flammable liquid and then stayed to watch the fire, which was stopped by some neighbours. The police was able to identify the perpetrators.
Between noon 21th and the morning of 22th February, the door of the sacristy and a the glass pane of a display case in the church were covered in black paint. The police are investigating.
On 21 February, unknown perpetrators used physical force in order to break the door to the sacristy in a church in St. Margarethen near Wolfsberg. Afterwards they tried to break open the sacrificial offerings box of the candle sacrifice. Their attempt was unsuccessful but caused property damage of currently unknown amount. Probably the same perpetrators tried to break open two offering boxes in a church in the district of Völkermarkt in Wolfsberg. Investigations are being conducted in this regard.
The Church of St Vincent de Paul in Paris was vandalized with red tags on February 21st. The images were documented on the "Protégé ton Eglise" Facebook page.
National Police reviewed the security cameras of the church of San Pedro de La Felguera to try to locate the four young women who caused at least 600 euros in damage inside the church on February 20th. Video recordings revealed that the young women entered the church, used and stole two of the microphones, sat on the altar, burned candles and set fire to books and the altar cloth.
Between February 20th 12:00 pm and February 24th 09:00 pm, unknown perpetrators tried to break in the Protestant Church in Bahnhofstraße in Wehretal-Reichensachsen without success. The damage amounts to 200 euros and the police is still investigating.
In the church of Santa Croce in Abbadia San Salvatore a fire took place in the chapel of the Sacred Heart (left wing of the building), which was put out by the caretaker of the religious building. The confused woman, who has a history with drug addiction, slammed a crucifix to the ground, turned the pews upside down before starting the fire. She was caught and taken to the hospital for necessary treatment.
Two young men were arrested and charged with vandalism at the Church of St. Gregory Palamas in Thessaloniki. The 24 and 22-year-olds splattered paint and scattered flyers at the busts in the Metropolitan Courtyard. The young men, members of the Thessaloniki Freedom Initiative, claim they acted in protest against “obscurantism and nationalism.”
Unknown vandals wrote slogans with indelible spray on the walls outside the church and on the doors. The graffiti includes an anarchy symbol and the words “No Gods.” The church is a place of pilgrimage because it was where Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri was baptized.
On Sunday 16th February, one or more individuals entered the church and, with a pistol or a pellet gun, deliberately shot at the central stained-glass window in the choir of the church, which depicts Jesus Christ, with a pistol or a pellet gun. Three other stained-glass windows were also hit by shotgun pellets.
On February 19th and February 21st an unknown person broke the rear windows of The Storehouse Church in Dorchester by throwing stones at them. The police are investigating and searching for witnesses.
In the night of February 19th 2020 to February 20th, unknown perpetrators violently broke open the outer door to the sacristy of the parish church in St. Kanzian. They tore the offertory box violently from the wall anchorage and tried to break it open, but this was not successful. Afterwards they left the church without any stolen goods.
Over the Weekend of February 15th, an evangelical church in Toulouse was tagged by anarchists, as reported on the Facebook page of the National Union of Evangelical Christians.
On February 18th, an unknown person placed traffic cones on a soldier´s grave inside the churchyard of Saint Helen church in Northwick. The traffic cones have been removed from the grave.
On February 17th, the tabernacle in the church of Notre-Dame de Mortagne-au-Perche has been found fractured and the ciborium has been emptied and broken. Since then, the church is closed to the public.
From February 17th to February 21th 2020, evangelical French Christians gathered to pray and fast in the church of La Porte Ouverte in Mulhouse. This gathering was wrongly accused in the French media of being the beginning of contamination and dissemination of the coronavirus, leading to the stigmatization of evangelicals and threats. The pastor of the Evangelical church apologized for not being more informed, but there was no lockdown in place, as this happened at the beginning of the pandemic.
"Kurosh," an Iranian convert to Christianity who received asylum in Germany four years ago, faced a 25,000 euro fine or a prison sentence if he did not respond to a lengthy series of questions about his faith from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). He was also required to provide a certificate from the pastor at his church to demonstrate his commitment to his faith. He reports that he provided all the information requested, but remains in fear that this will happen again. This is the BAMF "Revocation and Withdrawal Procedure."
On February 16th, spilled candles, arson attack, and smeared excrement were found by the sacristan in the Saint-Dié cathedral in the Vosges. The parish priest filled a complaint to the police. The city has assigned police officers to monitor the Cathedral.
Reza Karkah, an Iranian Christian, faces the prospect of imprisonment, torture and separation from his wife and child after the UK Home Office rejected his application for asylum on the basis that he was ‘fabricating’ his Christian faith.
The abbot of Saint-Dié lodged a complaint following a series of degradations in his cathedral since the end of January. Incidents included candles being knocked over, fires being started, and excrement deposited in several places in the building. The mayor of the town responded by assigning two police officers to surveil the building.
Between the afternoon of February 15th and the morning of the 16th, an unknown person or group broke into and vandalized the Christ Church in Laxey. The incident disrupted the Sunday morning services. Police are investigating and searching for witnesses.
During the night between the 15th and 16th of February, an unknown perpetrator threw a paint bomb at St. MacNissi's Parish Church in Larne. The police treated the incident as a sectarian hate crime as they investigated and searched for witnesses.