Man arrested in Germany for cutting down LGBT flag outside Catholic church
Mannheim’s Old Town Hall and St. Sebastian’s Church, right, on the city’s market square. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
German police have arrested a 58-year-old Mannheim resident on suspicion of property damage after he allegedly cut down a flagpole bearing an LGBT flag outside the Catholic parish of St. Sebastian, Catholic News Agency reports.
The incident occurred at around 6:45 p.m. local time on July 13. Witnesses said the man used a saw to cut through the metal flagpole, causing it to fall onto the market square, before leaving the scene. The rainbow flag had been raised by the parish priest, Fr. Lukas Glocker, to mark the local LGBT pride event, Monnem Pride.
Glocker said the flag symbolized respect for every person “regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, origin, religion, appearance, or skin color.” Following the incident, the priest filed a police complaint.
A specialized unit of the Heidelberg Criminal Police Department investigated the incident as a case of property damage. Authorities announced on Thursday that the 58-year-old Mannheim suspect had been arrested.
As the UOJ previously reported, LGBT Catholics marched through Rome carrying a rainbow-colored cross.
Read also
Stuttgart bishop: Killing at Sviatohirsk shocked entire Orthodox world
The hierarch of the ROCOR German Diocese said the brutal killing of a Sviatohirsk Lavra monk had reverberated painfully throughout the Orthodox world.
Volodymyr persecuted community of Dormition Church marks its patronal feast
The Volodymyr community of the UOC continues to hold services in temporary facilities following the seizure of the Dormition Cathedral.
His Beatitude gives school backpacks to 200 displaced children
After a prayer service marking the start of the school year, the UOC Primate gave displaced children school backpacks and essential supplies.
Armenia to restore 5th-century church built on ancient pagan sanctuary
Armenia is preparing to restore an ancient Christian church built on the site of a pagan sanctuary.
DESS demands Zaporizhzhia Eparchy sever ties with UOC Kyiv Metropolia
The leadership of the UOC Zaporizhzhia Eparchy said it had received DESS documents alleging signs of affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Patriarchate of Constantinople canonizes six Athonite elders
The Constantinople Patriarchate canonized six Athonite ascetics, including four elders of Romanian origin, as well as Tikhon the Confessor and Georgios Hadjigeorgis.