All cases

Filtered by: Freedom of Religion

The Parliament of Andalucía Wants to Prohibit the communion in The Masses

April 27, 2020, Spain

In the end of April, the Parliament of Andalusia presented a proposal to the Government of Spain to resume the Holy Masses during the Pandemic. However, the proposal calls for the prevention of giving of communion and the Holy Water stoups. On the other side, the Catholic Church has already been developing strategies to resume the Holy Masses and distribute communion safely, which is the true meaning of the Mass.

Closure of Churches During COVID Lockdown but not Museums and Shops

April 27, 2020, Italy

the Government imposed a Stop for Holy Masses, but allows shops and museums to prevail. Bishops and believers all around Italy showed disagreement and expressed their hurt feelings.

Three Armed Policemen Burst Into a Parisian church to Stop a Mass

April 22, 2020, France

Bishop Aupetit strongly denounced the incident, recalling that the law prohibits "police officers from entering a church with weapons".

Several Acts of Thefts and Vandalism of Churches across Austria

April 20, 2020, Austria

Several acts of thefts and vandalism of churches have occurred across Austria

Armed Policemen Burst Into a Parisian Church And Stop a Mass

April 19, 2020, France

On Sunday 19th April, three armed policemen burst into the church and ordered the priest to stop the mass.The parish priest of Saint-Andre-de-l'Europe was celebrating a Holy Mass with an Online broadcast for his parishioners in confinement. Inside the Church there were seven people, all involved in the celebration. The parish priests recall that the police is not allowed to enter a church with weapons, according to the law. The police can only intervene in a sanctuary at the request of the parish priest or in case of an emergency. One of the parishioners was also a policeman, who talked to the officers. It seems that a neighbour had alerted the police.

The Police Ordered the Closure of the Church and the end to Perpetual Adoration

April 19, 2020, Spain

On the 19th April, the police ordered the closure of the Church and the end of worship in the parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Sabadell. There were only one or two people present during each adoration, which did not go against the Covid-19 regulations. The bishops started doing arrangements for a reopening of the church.

Desecration of a Church in Mümling-Grümbach

April 18, 2020, Germany

On 18th April, "Echo Online" reported that the protestant church in Mümling-Grumbach closed its doors after the discovery of a desecration and vandalism.

The Government Prohibits the Procession of the Santa Faz to Bless the City.

April 17, 2020, Spain

The Subdelegation of the Government prohibited on the 17th April the Procession of the Santa Faz relic to bless the city, which would have taken place on the 23rd April. The reason was that the act was not covered by the regulations on the state of alarm for the Covid-19 pandemic. The mayor and priests proposed alternatives for celebrating the procession without danger of contagion. However, the Council has not approved it. In other historical pandemics, the celebration had taken place.

Religious Freedom Observatory Denounces Cancellation of Masses

April 13, 2020, Spain

The president of the Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience (OLRC) sent a letter to the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, asking for "explanations" and showing her "discomfort" about the suspension of Masses in the course of their celebration that has taken place in different parts of Spain during Lent and Holy Week.

Police Suspended an Open-Air Mass Without the Participation of the Faithful

April 12, 2020, Spain

On the 12th of April, the police suspended a Mass being celebrated on the parish courtyard of San Jenaro de Madrid. Although the Mass was being held without the participation of the faithful, it was interrupted by the police and the priests had to be identified. The Madrid City Council stated that the parish had installed without authorization a megaphone outside the building, which had raised "complaints from neighbors".

The Police Evacuated a Holy Mass in San Fernando de Henares

April 12, 2020, Spain

On Easter Sunday, the Police evacuated the parish of San Isidoro in Valencia, were nine people and the priest were gathered. They also interrupted the prayer of the Rosary in an act of Eucharistic adoration. The temple had space for 700 people, so the ten people could sit with plenty of space between them, using masks and gloves. The police allowed them to finish the Mass and warned them that if they did not suspend the church services and activities from now on, they would be sanctioned.

Police Cancelled Rooftop Palm Sunday Mass

April 6, 2020, Spain

On Palm Sunday morning, the local police interrupted a Mass celebrated on a rooftop by the priest of the Church of the Paúls in Triana. The members of the community had improvised an altar and lectern. The priest used a speaker to reach the nearest residential blocks. While some residents informed the police saying the rules were being violated, other citizens were angry at the officers for interrupting the Mass. The priests said there were only eight of them on the rooftop, and they all lived in the same house. There was a confrontation between the neighbors supporting the Mass and the ones against it.

Priest Fined and Arrested For Processioning a Crucifix Alone

April 6, 2020, Italy

On April 6, a the Priest Father Domenico Cirigliano was fined and arrested for 14 days by the police, as he was carrying the miraculous Crucifix from the Church of Blessed Virgin Mary in Rocca Imperiale. He was doing a personal procession through the streets, keeping enough distance from other individuals and his assistant. The Father had told the parishioners he would bless the city in this form of reduced procession. The police reported the act as public departure, not motivated by employment, need or health reasons and had made a demonstration or religious act affecting the streets. In other cities the processions were allowed by the civil authorities.

The Police Evacuated A Church Even Though the Regulations Allow Mass in Churches

April 3, 2020, Spain

On 3. April, the national Police evacuated the church of San Servando y San Germán, in the district La Laguna of Cádiz. The Police said that the security measures for the Covid-19 Pandemic were not being held at the mass. The parish priest wrote afterwards an open letter, assuring that the fifteen parishioners in the Mass were taking the right measures, and that the evacuation was not justified.

The Police Reported a Priest Who Was Celebrating Mass With 5 People

March 31, 2020, Spain

On the 31. March two police agents knocked on the door of the Church in Valldoreix and said to the priest "It's prohibited to open the Church and you are a murderer." They denounced the priest, although there were only five people present including the priest, and the Mass was celebrated with the regulations and on a legal basis.

Police Raids on Italian Churches Raise Religious Freedom Concerns

March 29, 2020, Italy

An unclear regulation about churches caused difficulties between churches and police. The Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia, president of the Italian bishops' conference, asked the government to clarify these rules. During the Lockdown, the churches were allowed to be opened, but the assistance of a Mass was not declared as a vital necessity. The police raided several Mass being celebrated by small groups of people separated throughout the church and some bishops received reports of hundreds of euros for organising a mass.

Unjust Stigmatization of Evangelicals in France

March 17, 2020, France

On Tuesday 17th March, the Prefect of the Grand Est and the Bas Rhin, Josiane Chevalier, questioned on the France Inter Program the responsibility of the Christian Church Open Door in Mulhouse (Haut Rhin) for the propagation of Covid-19. Her speech offended many evangelicals, who did not accept to be stigmatized by his remarks. She implied that the church meetings were irresponsible, although the last big meeting of Christians happened in February, before the lockdown was announced.

Unknown Perpetrators Damaged Protestant Church in Usingen

March 16, 2020, Germany

Between Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th unknown vandals broke a window on the west side of the Protestant Laurentius church in Usingen. They also damaged two glass doors on the tower portal, but they failed to destroy them completely.

Conversion Therapy Now iIlegal In Germany

March 16, 2020, Germany

A new law was proposed from the Christian Democrats in February 2020 that prohibits conversion therapy defined as "all therapy carried out on human beings which are aimed at changing or suppressing sexual orientation of self-perceived gender identity". The law is already in use since June 2020.

Grimmark And Steen Lost Case Of European Court Of Human Rights

March 12, 2020, Sweden

The European Court of Human Rights had refused to consider the case of two fully trained midwives who had been denied employment in Sweden over their refusal to perform abortions. The midwives, Ellinor Grimmark and Linda Steen, claim that this necessity to carry out abortions was violating their freedom of conscience, dictated by their Christian faith. The European Court announced that the two Swedish cases were inadmissible.