Germany sees a rise in attacks on churches – report

Funeral chapel in Stuttgart, Germany. Photo: commons.wikimedia

Acts of vandalism against churches, chapels, and Christian symbols have risen in Germany, Christian Today reported.

In the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, 849 incidents were recorded: 734 in churches and 115 in chapels. The number of vandalism and theft cases increased by 26 percent compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, police are able to solve only one in six cases.

Despite the statistics, the state’s Interior Ministry maintains that the situation is “overall stable” and that “there are no signs of a loss of public respect for religious symbols and cultural values.”

Germany’s Bishops’ Conference notes that in official police reports, crimes motivated by religious hatred – such as arson, beheading statues of Jesus, desecration of churches and confessionals, and destruction of statues – are often classified simply as property damage. Such crimes are frequently downplayed, concealed, or ignored in political discourse.

“All taboos have been broken when it comes to church vandalism,” a spokesperson for the Bishops’ Conference said, citing incidents where confessionals were defiled and statues of Jesus Christ were beheaded.

Anja Hoffmann, executive director of the human rights organization OIDAC Europe, points out that "anti-Christian bias is not only visible in physical attacks but also in how governments and media handle them."

Earlier, the UOJ wrote about OIDAC Europe’s report on violations of the religious freedom of the UOC.

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