In the night of July 10th unknown perpetrators forcibly opened the door of the Holzan church of St. Joseph and tore a plant and its roots out of a pot. The perpetrators then threw the plant in front of the church. The police opened an investigation.
On July 8th an act of vandalism and attempted theft was discovered in Castelletto Ticino in the Verbanella Church. One stained-glass window was smashed into pieces, which also caused a damage on a statue of St. Anthony of Padua that fell on the ground. The police are investigating the incident.
In the latest in a series of vandalism and desecration incidents, unidentified perpetrators invaded the Saint Silas Chapel on July 8th, where they desecrated the interior, smashed windows, and sprayed obscene graffiti on the outside walls. The graffiti showed a clear bias against the local residents by writing phrases such as "f&*k you" on the walls. Despite the repeated complaints of residents no further action has been taken.
Unknown perpetrators smashed two windows of the chapel of the Josefskirche in Rodde between July 5th and 7th causing at least 500 euros in damage. The police began an investigation.
Intruders stole a monstrance with a relic of St. Leopold III, the patron saint of Lower Austria, from the pilgrimage church Maria Lanzendorf, along with a second relic monstrance, as well as other liturgical objects such as chalices and incense boats. According to police reports, the crime was committed during the night of July 5th.
On the 4th of July at 5 o'clock in the morning the St. Paul Church in Corbeil-Essonnes was reported to be burning. The entire roof, interior, and the sacristy of the church were completely destroyed. The police reported that the fire broke out due to a gas leak caused by squatters, but at least one local resident is skeptical about this explanation.
Around 6:30 p.m. on July 4th, an employee who entered the pilgrimage church from the back, noticed heavy smoke and fire in the area of a church pew. A candle on the knee pad in front of the bench had set fire to a nylon rope, then the pad caught fire and the flames spread to the entire bench. The woman managed to extinguish the burning seat and backrest; then she called the fire brigade. The Bamberg criminal police took over the further investigation into the cause of the fire which resulted in 2,000 euros in damage.
On July 4th, unknown perpetrator knocked over the 75 kilogram cast iron cross in front of the Heart of Jesus church (Herz Jesu Kirche) in the Upper Palatinate town of Weiden, according to police reports. The cross, which was broken off steel pins, suffered massive damage. Police began an investigation and called for witnesses.
A thief, who had sneaked into the church in Würzburger Straße on the weekend, left the church without any loot. Between July 3rd and 4th, he entered the unlocked church and broke open the wooden door to the sacristy as well as a metal locker. He searched everything and disappeared again.
Since the beginning of July, in the district of Euskirchen, there have been several break-ins in churches and vandalism or theft of donation money. The acts happened mostly on weekends. In a near region, also four churches were broken-in. The police are investigating.
On July 3rd, Muslim convert Safiyya Amira Shaikh was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 14 years in jail for plotting a bomb attack on St. Paul's Cathedral London and a suicide bomb attack on the nearby underground station. Shaikh admitted the crime and showed no remorse; she wanted to kill as many "kufars" (unbelievers) as possible.
On July 3rd, a Facebook page posted photos of paintings in the Church Saint-Pierre d’Auxerre that had been severely vandalized.
On July 3rd, Madrid's municipal police arrested a man after he burst into the San Ramón Nonato parish church in Puente de Vallecas, where a Mass was being celebrated, shouting "murderers, fags, and pedophiles! You should burn, I'm going to burn you all alive!"
In the three weeks between June 11th and July 2nd, the church of Bissendorf-Achelriede was vandalized three times by unknown perpetrators. The first two incidents happened at two buildings belonging to the church, eight windows were smashed and a wall sprayed with graffiti. The last incident occurred in the church and resulted in twenty-eight smashed windows, causing a total estimated damage of over thirteen thousand euros.
Between July 2nd and 3rd the newly-erected Sacred Heart of Jesus statue in the village of Saint-Jean-Sart was unbolted and stolen. The statue had been installed in the middle of June after extensive restoration by a community group. Local residents are shocked by the theft.
Church leaders launched legal action against the UK government for unnecessary and bizarre Covid-19 Regulations against Churches. Bans with threat of criminal sanctions were imposed on churches while businesses and restaurants were trusted to take their own decisions. Christian leaders find a total lack of understanding on the part of the Government for matters related to religion and Christianity.
On the evening of June 30th, a fire broke out in the youth centre, which is part of the Thomas Morus Church in Münster. The cause of the fire is still unclear but the investigation department of the police opened a case. No people were harmed during this fire.
In June, a British MP received a death threat and other online abuse after voting in accordance with her pro-life convictions. Dr Lisa Cameron, SNP MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, was sent the threat just days after voting against a pro-abortion bill, which limits support/protest near abortion clinics.
On July 30th in a parish on Consell de Cent Street, a priest came to the aid of an old lady in the church after overhearing an argument between her and an unknown man. The priest confronted the aggressor directly, who then attacked him with a glass and cut his neck. The perpetrator tried to run away but was stopped by a witness. The police arrived and arrested the individual, who has a violent robbery history.
On June 29th, firefighters were called to the San Girolamo Church in the city of Rimini shortly after 3:30 in the afternoon. A pedestrian reported smoke emanating from the storage room of the church building where old furniture and plastic chairs formed the basis for the fire. Fortunately, the firefighting team was able to quell the blaze. A forensics team investigated whether the fire had been intentionally set, noting that nothing indicated that short circuits or similar faults were the cause of the fire.
On Monday, June 29th a fire which began behind the altar of the church of La Dominelais, south of Rennes, caused significant damage. Smoke and heat blackened the walls of the building, which had been renovated some twenty years ago.
Shortly before 7 p.m. on June 29th, the fire brigade was dispatched to a fire in the Réaumont church. The firefighters were able to contain the damage of the fire to the sacristy. The fire produced high volumes of smoke, which caused most of the damage in the sacristy. Fortunately the rest of the church remained intact and no sacred objects were damaged. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the gendarmerie.
On June 28th the crystal glass pyramid, which is supposed to protect the statue Antonfrancesco Farsetti, founder of Ilsa della Donazella, was smashed by unknown vandals.
In the week before June 27th, the church of Sant’Andrea in Bergamo was the victim of two crimes. The first incident was the vandalism of the liturgical chair which was discovered upside down in the middle of the church and wet with what the priest suspected was urine. The second incident was the theft of the offerings, accomplished by severely damaging the valuable offering boxes. This series of events led to the closure of the church except for Sunday Mass, until funds have been raised to install comprehensive security measures.
Police report that between June 26th and June 28th unknown perpetrators stole money from the offering box of the evangelical Church of Sulzbach. While the damage to the church property was estimated to be one hundred euros, the thieves fled with five euros.
AAround 10:30 p.m. on June 26th, the Hemmingen fire brigade was called due to a report of smoke in an apartment. Upon arrival, they discovered that that the adjacent caretaker's apartment in the attic of the Catholic Church of St. George parish hall was on fire. The fire brigade had to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading to the church, which is just a few meters away. According to the Ludwigsburg police, the caretaker's apartment was completely burnt out and is now uninhabitable. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
On June 23rd, the priest of the Catholic church in the Oppau district of Lugwigshafen heard a loud noise inside the church around 12:30 p.m. While investing the noise, he discovered a young man fleeing and found several objects in the church toppled over. The damage caused is estimated to be around 500 euros. The police are investigating.
The statue of the Mallorcan friar and saint Junípero Serra in Palma which stands in front of the central convent of Sant Francesc, was vandalized on June 22nd. The word 'racist' was smeared on the base of the monument, and the saint's image was also stained with red paint. The statue was attacked after the Podemos councilor in the Palma City Council, Sonia Vivas, mayor of Social Justice, Feminism and LGTBI, noted the statue of the eighteenth-century Franciscan friar had been attacked in California, USA. She suggested the statue of the saint should be thrown away "peacefully, "calling the saint a symbol of the "oligarchy".
On June 22nd, vandals defaced the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa and painted the letters "BLM" at the base in a park chapel in Breda. The image of Our Lady, which is revered by Poles and also known as the 'Black Madonna', was erected in the park in 1954 in thanksgiving for the city’s liberation from the Nazis.
On 22 June, vandals destroyed the small forest chapel at the Prinsenloop on the Witteberg in Achel. The facade was thrown out of the window and the statue of the Virgin Mary was completely destroyed and the debris was found near the chapel. Some tiles of the roof and a flowerpot were also smashed. The police are investigating.
A thief caused nearly €200 in damage when he violently tore the offertory box affixed to a table in the Catholic church in Bühl on June 19th. Reports indicate the box only contained a few euros. The Bühl police began an investigation.
On the night of 17th to 18th June, unknown vandals targeted the small Church of the Madonna of the Consolation. The vandals forced the door open, stole the Crucifix, set fire to the altar, which also damaged the paintings and decorations, and destroyed the statue of the Madonna. The statue was found outside from the building.
The sanctuary of Carmel of Cesana Brianza has been seriously damaged. The parish of Santi Fermo e Rustico reported the incident on Facebook. To report the episode, promptly reported to the authorities, is the parish of Saints Fermo and Rustico who on their facebook page reported the incident: "In the evening, numerous underage teenagers gather, leaving dirt and damage. To the children we say: the sanctuary is a place of silence and prayer, do not ruin it with irresponsible behaviour! This is no place to bivouac! We respect the sacredness".
On Sunday, June 14th, unknown people broke the sacristy door of a Catholic church in the northern complex. Between 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., they entered the church and tampered with the wooden door. Keys were apparently stolen from the room. The property damage is estimated at around 200 euros. Police are looking for clues and witness. Please inform the criminal police in Gießen at 0641 / 7006-2555.
Despite the opposition by the Stormont Assembly, Parliament of Northern Ireland, the House of Lords in the UK backed the abortion regulations for Northern Ireland, which were made on the time when the Assembly had collapsed. The regulations permit abortions up to birth in cases of severe non-fatal disability, such as the Down-syndrome. Lord Shinkwin, a Peer in the House of Lords, who also has a disability asked how they could deny life to a human being diagnosed with a non-fatal disability.
In Ireland, the Government proposed creating "free access zones", where pro-life campaigners would not be allowed to stand in front of Hospitals and Abortion centers. Pro Life Campaigner Eilis Mulroy criticises the intended introduction of censorship zones. He claims that these exclusion zones go against freedom of speech and peaceful protests. Also, the Pro-Life movement criticizes the absence of meaningful support or interest in providing other alternatives to abortion in the draft Program for the Government.
The small church of the Minori Cappuccini di Spoleto was discovered vandalized with human excrement on June 14th, the feast of Corpus Christi. The excrement was scattered in several places in the church, including the chapel of the Madonna, on the entrance threshold, and on door handles.
The statue of Saint Anthony in the De Kluize sanctuary in Knutsegem in Velzeke and the statue of Julius Caesar on Romeins Plein were vandalized on the weekend of June 14. Their names were sprayed with graffiti. Additionally, all the statues in the sanctuary sculpture garden behind the chapel of Saint Anthony were beheaded.
The head of the statue of Saint Arnould, patron saint of brewers, erected in Bouillon (province of Luxembourg), was unscrewed and thrown into a ravine during the night between June 13th and 14th. It was badly damaged but not destroyed because vegetation in the ravine broke its fall. A complaint was filed and Bouillon Mayor Patrick Adam was confident the perpetrators would be caught: “Thanks to the cameras that are installed by the municipality and thanks to those of the private ones, we will be able to recover images. We do not want this act to go unpunished.”
During the night from the 11th to 12th of June, Rennes firefighters intervened to extinguish an intentionally-set fire in front of a door of the Saint-Pierre cathedral in Rennes. A trash bin, placed just in front of the door located at the back of the building, on Rue Saint-Sauveur, was set on fire. According to the first impressions from the investigation, this was a voluntary act because the bin was brought from an adjacent street and deliberately placed outside the door.
The chapel of USC (University of Santiago de Compostela) in the South Campus of Santiago was vandalized on July 12th, which led to much damage and the desecration of consecrated hosts. The police are investigating the case.
In the afternoon of June 12th unknown perpetrators vandalized the walls, floor and altar cloth in the Church of Stegaurach with liquid candle wax. They also scratched the faces of several paintings and threw three candles, a holy water box, and a holy water bowl into the Aurach river. The resulting property damage amounts to an estimated 10,000 euros and theft damage of 100 euros. The police investigated and about a week later, two underage girls admitted they had committed the acts "without any particular motivation."
On June 12th the bell tower of the small church of Sant'Ampelio in Bordighera, was attacked by vandals who, using red graffiti, wrote the letters D and R. Mayor Vittorio Ingenito was infuriated and stated that this shameful act of vandalism saddened the whole community, as it struck one of the places they all hold most dear and he will "leave no stone unturned" to catch the perpetrators and hold them accountable.
Maintenance workers in a small municipal cemetery in the town of Lieurey discovered that dozen ancient graves had been vandalized. Several of the gravestones had been smashed, and on others, just the crosses were destroyed. According to the police in charge of the investigation, the incident dates back to the end of May or the beginning of June.
The parish priest of San Gennaro in Molfetta, Don Sergio Vitulano, reported that on the morning of June 12th he had noticed the number of consecrated hosts was significantly reduced compared to those placed in the ciborium during the Mass of the previous day. He also reported finding a consecrated host on the ground. The security camera footage revealed that a recognizable woman, observed in the area in the previous days, had entered the church and had taken numerous consecrated Hosts from the tabernacle by hurriedly putting them in her pocket and leaving the church.
The Italian Bishops are speaking against a new legislation proposed against "homotransphobia" by Zan-Scalfarotto, as it could criminalize the Church's teaching on homosexuality and censor the preaching against other sexual pathologies. The Bishops argue that there are already laws that protect every human being from discrimination and violence. The law could lead to "criminalization of opinion".
Around 3:00 a.m. on June 8, 2020, Sister Adelgitt heard banging on the sidewalk in front of St. Sebastian's Cathedral in downtown Magdeburg. Early the next morning it was clear what she had heard. Unknown thieves had stolen two bronze wings from the 'Angel Gate' which stands in front of the 'Gate of Paradise' at the west entrance of the cathedral. Since this is not the first time that parts of the gate were stolen, the remaining sections of the gate have now been secured by welding them together. A few days later, police received a tip from a witness who had found sawn-up bronze pieces near a garden property in the Fermersleber Elbweg between the two Salbker See lakes. They were later identified as the stolen parts. Narcotics were found on an adjacent property.
Although there is no yet concrete evidence of arson, the police are investigating the fire in the church of St. Johannes. Two girls noticed smoke billowing out of the church and alerted the fire department. Apparently, too many candles had been lit on the metal stand in the vestibule.
The Observatory of Religious Freedom (OLRC) based in Spain, reported a decrease in the attacks towards fundamental rights and an increase in violence against Catholic believers and places of worship (mostly Christian), on June 8th. According to Maria Garcia, President of the OLRC, 80% of the attacks have been directed against Christians. The report also shows political parties like "Podemos", the left party and the PSOE party as clear opposers of religious freedom involved in acts against Christians. The most affected cities are Madrid, Andalucia and Cataluña.
On 6th June, the windows of St. Laurentius Church in Burscheid were smashed again. They were already repaired one week after the first attack. There were four fist-sized holes found on the window, the metal frames were bent, and the stones were found inside the church by the opposite wall. The church remained closed, due to another act of vandalism in New Year's Eve, when a drunk man tried to set fire to the nativity scene.