Vandal in France smashes Catholic church, using cross as crowbar

St. Stephen’s Church in Mulhouse. Photo: Flickr

In the French city of Mulhouse, an unidentified man vandalized the Catholic Church of St. Stephen, using an altar cross to break open confessionals. The attack took place on July 5, 2026, and lasted about five minutes, after which the perpetrator fled with an accomplice waiting for him outside, Life Site News reported.

Surveillance cameras captured the shirtless, barefoot vandal entering the empty church and beginning to desecrate liturgical items. First, the man threw the altar cross to the floor, then poured water from flower vases onto the altar, and later used the cross as a crowbar to break open the doors of three confessionals dating from the early 19th century.

Parish rector Pascal Boulic stressed that the offender’s aim was precisely to desecrate Christian religious symbols, since he stole nothing from the parish property.

Police detained a 37-year-old suspect the day after the priest filed an official complaint. Grand Est regional president Franck Leroy called on law enforcement to determine the suspect’s mental state at the time of the crime. The parish rector noted that in his five years of service in Mulhouse, the parish had never faced such acts of aggression.

As the UOJ reported, police in Paris beat believers during a protest against the desecration of churches.

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