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Hate crimes in Europe within first half of 2016

January

Fontainebleau

Source: Le Parisien

The sixteenth century church Saint-Louis was entirely burnt out, images, including that of the baby Jesus, were desecrated, and the ciborium containing consecrated Hosts was stolen.  “The fire was lit at the foot of the most valuable and symbolic goods. So these are people who knew their heritage and religious value,” according to Frédéric Valletoux, the mayor of Fontainebleau.

Schnelsen

Source: Bild

A 19-year-old man told another refugee (18) that he was no longer a Muslim, but had become a Christian. The 18-year-old Muslim responded: "Then I will cut your throat. For this, I do not even need permission from IS."

Crégy-lès-Meaux

Source: Observatory

Gasoline had been poured inside the church and a half-burnt rag was found on one of the dining chairs. In addition three plastic bottles containing gasoline were also found.

Arriate

Source: Actuall

In what appears to be an intentional act, gasoline was poured near the four floats that would be used in the traditional procession of the Three Kings on the Sunday before Epiphany in Arriate. One float had been completely burned and the remaining three were considerably damaged.

Brussels

Source: Daily Mail

Youths in Brussels yelled 'Allahu Akbar' as they set fire to a Christmas tree in a public square using a homemade petrol bomb.

Bergamo

Source: Bergamonews

A Nativity scene in Treviglio was destroyed and the Jesus statue taken and beheaded by unknown perpetrators.

Ballenstedt

Source: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung

In a community shelter for refugees in Ballenstedt (Harz), a Muslim Syrian threatened an Eritrean Christian woman that he would kill her baby while she slept. The trigger was a discussion with religious themes. According to interpreters, the 23-year-old man said "I'll kill your baby while you are asleep."

Thibaud de La Serre

Source: Sud Ouest

On December 30 and January 6, wax statues - more than a century old and familiar to the faithful of Sainte-Catherine parish – in the nativity scene were vandalized.

Nantes

Source: 20 Minutes

Around 4pm, a parishioner noticed two individuals at a table covered with tablecloth and religious leaflets. They left quickly and the parishioner immediately noticed a fire had broken out on the furniture. She extinguished the fire with her shoes.

Fontainebleau

Source: La République

On the same night that an arson fire swept through the church of Saint-Louis of Fontainebleau, a historic cross in the forest was toppled from its base. The 2 meter high Croix de Guise - one of the many crosses that mark the forest of Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne) - was probably erected before 1563.

Gotschendorf

Source: Orthodoxie

Christian refugees, particularly converts from Islam, were exposed to harassment at the refugee camps in Germany, says Hegumen Daniel (Irbits) father superior of the St. George the Victorious Monastery in Gotschendorf, member of the Integration Committee at the German Federal Chancellery.

Cantal

Source: La Montagne

A theft occurred in the Church of Notre Dame de Quézac, sometime between January 14th and 15th. A ciborium, a gold sacred vase containing a hundred consecrated Hosts, was stolen from a tabernacle. The police have opened an investigation.

Chamaret

Source: Le Journal de Saône et Loire

Several figurines in the Nativity scene installed in the church of Chamaret were beheaded. The caretaker of the church discovered the damage in the late afternoon. The nursery had been sacked, with twenty figurines beheaded, trash strewn about, candles displaced, and matches burnt.

Berlin

Source: Die Welt

Pastor Gottfried Martens the Trinity Lutheran Church in Berlin reported that a Christian man from Iran came to his church. He had a 30 centimeter long wound on his back. He reported that during his sleep, a man entered his room and slashed his back with a knife. Ismail Tipi, the spokesman for integration questions from the CDU in Germany, warned about Salafism. “As a matter of fact, the Salafists and the Islamists try to come into the refugee camps. There are also sources in the Internet for it. I am absolutely sure that there are also Islamists in the ranks of the security personnel.”

Dunkerque

Source: Le Bon Combat

In a series of emails to a French blog, Pastor Daniel O. described the beatings, stabbings, disappearance, and presumed murder of an Iranian Christian at the Grande-Synthe refugee camp. "The situation of Christian refugees in Grande-Synthe is worrying and has become particularly critical. We had to take the decision last night to lodge a dozen of them in the premises of the church. Because they were manhandled from the night of Monday to Tuesday and several have been stabbed ...  One of them was killed last week around the camp ... During past two weeks, several Christian Church have drawn from their own funds to house the hotel; but this solution can not be extended, (almost € 800 in less than a fortnight)."

Stuttgart

Source: Stuttgarter Nachrichten

Assyrian refugees asked to be housed apart from Muslims in the planned camp near Stuttgart due to conflicts and threats. Assyrians are Christians who mainly come from Syria and Iraq. In the refugee accommodations, they reported experiencing systematic bullying at the hands of Muslim refugees, according to interviews with Christians in the Stuttgartner Nachrichten. Examples of such bullying included being forbidden from eating or storing pork and sitting at the same table. Verbal confrontations as well as physical abuse was reported.

Seville

Source: Actuall

Thieves stole three silver ciborium, chalices, and the contents of collection boxes from the Corpus Christi church. The theft was discovered when a group of parishioners who were about to prepare the Mass noticed that the tabernacle was open and Hosts were lying on the ground. As a result, the first Mass had to be suspended.

La Coruña

Source: La Voz de Galicia

Unknown individuals broke into the church of Santa Clara, damaging several windows, doors and bolts. They cut and stole the hands of a statue of the Virgin Mary. They then forced the tabernacle open, stole several objects of worship, including consecrated hosts kept inside a chalice, as well as the loudspeakers of the parish.

Bruyères-le- Châtel

Source: Le Parisien

A window was broken, the tabernacle was overturned, the ciborium was stolen, and the sacristy was sacked. According to a parishioner, this was not the first time the church had been a victim, as graffiti had been found last year. However, this attack was much more serious. "Consecrated hosts were stolen. For someone who doesn't believe, this probably does not matter much. For [Catholics] it is the most serious. It is the body of Christ. It is Jesus who was attacked" (translated from French). The Bishop of Evry called it a "real attack" against the Catholic church and a "rampage".

February

Aes (Puente Viesgo)

Source: El Diario Montanes

Several objects of worship were stolen from inside a Catholic church. The consecrated hosts from the tabernacle were thrown to the ground and several religious images were damaged. This is the second time the church has been robbed.

Lyon

Source: Blog Domini

On February 1st, an unknown perpetrator broke into the chapel of la Famille Missionnaire de Notre-Dame à Lyon around 5:00pm and vandalized the statue of the Virgin Mary, which was found on the ground with a demolished head. The chapel had been the victim of several attacks in previous days including the theft of flyers and announcements.

Berlin

Source: Kath.net

A member of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Berlin-Stegliz was attacked because of his Christian faith in the refugee camp where he lives. According to Dr. Gottfried Martens, pastor of the church, 15 Muslim occupants of the refugee accommodation attacked the man and another member of the church, ripping the cross from his neck, beating him, and insulting the two as disloyal and impure. This was at least the third attack on this church member at the accommodation.

Berlin

Source: BZ Berlin

Six Iranian Christian refugees were told by a security employee of the Tempelhof accommodation that they had an hour to leave because they were trouble-makers. Just days earlier, these six men had been threatened with beatings by 70 Muslim refugees for reading the Bible.

Colmenar Viejo

Source: Revista Eccelsia

Unknown individuals broke into a church and stole 8.000 euros of the parish faith-based NGO. They also damaged and forced the tabernacle open and threw all the consecrated hosts on the floor. They did not take the chalices where the hosts were kept (which shows that financial gain was at least not the only motivation of the attackers).

Saint-Claude, French-Antilles

Source: France Antilles

During the night between February 23-24, burglars entered the church of Saint-Augustin in the Guadeloupe town of Saint-Claude and destroyed the tabernacle, opened the ciborium and removed the consecrated Hosts, and stole the entire sound system. Additionally, the unknown perpetrators attacked the sacristy door, forcing it open.

Pejcici

Source: Ortodoxie

On February 28th, Slobodan Djoric, the priest of the Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God in Pejčići, reported to the police that the 17th century church had been the victim of theft and vandalism. Vandals smashed the church doors, stole three crosses and a gold censer (incense burner) and toppled the church's icons.

March

Berlin

Source: Kath.net

Muslim refugees at the regional office complained about having to sit in the waiting room with "impure Christians". Security staff responded by attacking the Christians with vicious insults about themselves and their faith, and then banned them from the Regional Office for six months.

Ljubljana

Source: Domovina

The words (translated from Slovenian) "Church get out of my womb" and "RCC (Roman Catholic Church) get out of our vaginas" were sprayed on the wall of the Franciscan church.

Laakirchen

Source: Observatory

At 2:15 in the afternoon of March 9th three men entered the rectory of the Catholic parish in Laakirchen of the Linz dioceses and, armed with a handgun, demanded cash from the priest and a member of his staff. The perpetrators tied the 56-year-old priest, Franz Starlinger, and his 59-year-old employee with cable ties and adhesive tape. The gunmen stole the contents of the safe, which included funds for parish groups, as well as money which had been collected for a needy family.

Grancey-le-Château

Source: Le bien public

The 13th century chapel of Saint-Ambroise of Busserotte-et-Montenaille, in Grancey-le-Château, was found completely ransacked. Visitors to the countryside chapel discovered the damage, which included the theft of between 35 and 40 square meters of tiles, broken statues and overturned benches.

Blois

Source: La Nouvelle République

Firefighters responded quickly to extinguish a fire, which originated with burning furniture in the Cathédrale Saint-Louis during the afternoon of March 18th. The fire appeared to have been an intentional act, and one in a series of intentionally-set fires at the cathedral. A complaint had been filed earlier the same morning by a representative of the diocese after a first outbreak of fire. Someone had placed a candle under a chair causing limited damage because the fire was quickly discovered.

Obervockling

Source: Traunsteiner Tagblatt

During the night of March 19, unknown perpetrators entered a small chapel in Obervockling, removed a statue of the Virgin Mary, and set a plastic flower vase, small altar cloths, and some branches on fire inside the chapel.

Lyon

Source: Le Progrès de Lyon

On March 22nd, several statues of St. Joseph, located in the chapel of Notre-Dame-des-Neiges and the church of Saint-Pothin, were destroyed by vandals. Two people praying in church reported seeing a person wearing a hood, who fled from the scene. About ten days earlier, a wooden statue of the Madonna and Child was torn from its base in Saint-Pothin, but was unbroken and thus returned to the base.

Calais

Source: Intolleranceagainstchristians

L’église Saint-Pierre suffered deliberate damage during the afternoon of Easter Monday: five separate fires were started inside the building while it was open to the public. The abbot has filed a complaint.

Osuna

Source: La razon

Two women hit the face of an ancient and valuable statue of Jesus, with a hard object inside a Catholic church.

Mai

Bad Reichenhall

Source: Heimatzeitung

Twice in four weeks, an unknown perpetrator(s) broke the arms off the Jesus figure displayed above hotels along a route frequently used by walkers and cyclists. The crucifix was erected in the 1970s by the Fuchs family for display above their hotels along the Reichenhaller Tivoliweg in Bad Reichenhall and had been undisturbed for decades until mid-April of 2016 when someone broke the left arm of the figure. The owner immediately had the damage repaired, but two weeks later, an unknown perpetrator struck again: this time breaking both arms.

 

Huesca

Source: Actuall

The tabernacle of the parish church of El Perpetuo Socorro was stolen. Its consecrated Hosts were thrown on the street.

Nantes

Source: Ouest France

Catholic School Notre-Dame de l’Abbaye in Nantes was vandalized twice in two weeks. Offices were broken into two weeks earlier. Then six classrooms were entered, where supplies, paintings and school projects were displaced and destroyed. Moreover, an opened tap caused a flood in the chemistry lab and a video projector was stolen, for the second time

Austria

Source: Kath.net

The general secretary of CSI, Elmar Kuhn, said the State was unable and unwilling to put an end to this behavior. Christian refugees are threatened and harassed by Muslim refugees in the course of fleeing on the refugee route and this behavior continues in refugee centers. He noted that even some supervisory staff who are Muslim participate in the harassment of Christians. The threat is worst for converts as conversion from Islam to another religion is a crime in some Muslim countries.

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azurin

Source: Evangelical focus

An Assemblies of God church in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azurin was the victim of arson. Bibles and other books inside the church were stacked up and burnt, according to Pastor Alain Denizou.

Helbronn

Source: Spiegel

A 27-year old Muslim man was found guilty and given a life sentence for the  murder of a 70-year-old woman in Bad Friedrichshall on May 19, 2016. After strangling the woman with a telephone cord, Abubaker C. left writing on the wall "It's payback time" and put a cross in the woman's hands. He then stole valuables and fled. The prosecution argued that the murderer's motive was both theft and to kill a "disbeliever".

Martigues

Source: Paroisse de Martigues 

The altar in the Church of St. Madeleine-de-l'Île was set on fire in Martigues, about 800 kilometers south of Paris. On the same day, another unknown person desecrated the tabernacle which contained the consecrated hosts in the church at Jonquières in the same region. Additionally, the priest was attacked a week later by a man he caught at the church door who appeared to be “trying to steal something.”

Mont-Sainte-Geneviève

Source: Dh.be

In Mont-Sainte-Geneviève, two fires significantly damaged an historic church. The first started in the sacristy. The fire fighters had just left the scene after managing to control that fire when another much bigger fire in the church roof was reported

Pamplona

Source: El Espanol

Several parish priests, as well as the Diocese of Pamplona, received death threats and were blackmailed in the course of several years by a group of Romanian nationals. The Romanian nationals extorted thousands of euros from the respective parishes, with the threat of divulging manipulated pictures of the priests as pedophiles.

June

Source: Refugee centers Austria

Christian refugees in various accommodation centers in Austria endured abuse at the hands of Muslim fellow refugees, including being forced to wake early in the morning to pray, being told they were impure, having belongings stolen, and instances of physical violence.

Rottach/Egern

Source: Tegernseer Stimme

A group of 30 thirty people, led by a self-proclaimed imam, attacked a Syrian Christian and his roommate at the Rottach-Egern refugee accommodation. A group of Muslims met late at night for dinner and discussion, because of their fasting routine in the month of Ramadan. The loud noise disturbed other residents and the dispute escalated to violence specifically directed at a Christian and his roommate.

Naron

Source: Actuall

In the early hours of Friday, June 10th to Saturday, June 11, two clearly intentional fires were discovered in two different churches in Narón. Each resulted in significant damage to the religious buildings. Incendiary devices were found in both churches. The fires were investigated by agents of the state security forces, as well as the local Narón police.

Hamburg

Source: Zeit Online

Security guards at refugee camps in Hamburg have reportedly told the Christian residents to keep their faith a secret, claiming they cannot protect them if their secret is revealed. A young Iranian woman and two dozen refugees set up a secret church at the camp but none of them wear a cross or reads the Bible in front of the Muslim refugees. She described the fear of being discovered reading the Bible or preparing to convert to Christianity. "If that comes out, I'm fair game. Everyone then has the right to destroy me. Some Muslims even think it is their duty."

Tenerife

Source: La Opinión de Tenerife

The statues of the Virgin of Candelabra and Santo Herman Pedro were beheaded by unknown vandals in a sanctuary in the mountain town of Cabo Blanco in Tenerife. Locals care for the shrine and often climb the mountain to leave candles, flowers, and devotional objects at the feet of the religious figures.

Celje

Source: Church miliant

 A Catholic church in Celje was defaced with satanic words and symbols, resulting in 3,000 euros in damage

St Galen

Source: Kath.net

Swiss police arrested a 51-year old suspected of intentionally setting fire to a confessional in the St. Gallen Cathedral. Two tourists were able to extinguish the fire using holy water before the fire department arrived. The damage amounts to more than 10,000 euros. According to police, the man had psychological problems and his motives were unclear.

Bonn

Source: Bonner Muenster and press release

A 24-year-old man was arrested after he entered the crypt of the shrine to the city patrons Cassius and Florentius and caused extensive damage to the crypt, tabernacle, and the sarcophagus in which the relics of the saints are held. Damages reported by church officials include:  A stone flower broken off the shrine pedestal; the bronze frame of the sarcophagus was warped and damaged; a railing was broken; the stone floor was damaged; the closure of the tabernacle was destroyed.

York

Source: York press

A York jury heard evidence about sustained bullying of a teenage apprentice, a Catholic, by tying him to a cross in a mock crucifixion, among other acts, during a trial. They found the accused guilty of assault, but not guilty of religiously aggravated assault. The teenaged victim gave testimony that his colleagues grabbed his arms and legs and tied him to a cross which they built out of timber in January 2015. He said they lifted him onto a wall, while tied to the cross, and that another colleague filmed this act. He testified that he felt his Catholic religion was targeted, "otherwise why was there a cross made?"

Halbe

Source: Idea

A Christian asylum-seeker from Iran was beaten up by two young Afghans in Halbe. According to the police, the young men didn’t like that the woman converted from Islam to Christianity. The Afghans, eighteen and twenty-five years old, hit the woman in the face and strangled her. She had to be treated in a hospital. Reports indicate that the victim and offenders would be housed in separate areas of the same accommodation.

Bologna

Source: Actuall

The statue, the civil and religious symbol of the city of Bologna, was defaced with "Allah Akbar" painted on the base. The Archdiocese of Bologna condemned the act and police are investigating.

Malmo

Source: Fria Tider

A man broke into St. Paul's Church in central Malmö and vandalized it, including breaking the stained glass windows. According to the police, it will be investigated as a hate crime as they suspect that the man attacked the church because it is a symbol of the Christian faith. When the police arrived at the scene, they were attacked by a man armed with a club who charged at them with cries of "Allahu Akbar." The police used pepper spray to subdue him. The man was arrested for vandalism, trespassing and attempted violence against police officers. Police said the motive was probably anti-Christian and could be charged as hate crime. After hours of investigation, the police still had failed to determine the identity of the vandal, his age and origin.

Collected by Intolleranceagainstchristians.eu