A report released this week by a well-known group that tracks Christian oppression says that six Christian churches in Europe were burned down in just one week.
Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe said that there have been a “shocking” number of fire attacks on ancient churches in Europe over the last few weeks.
In the past month, at least nine of these kinds of fire attacks against Christians have happened. Six of them happened in the week ending September 2.
Vandals set fire to a church in Bad Wörishofen, Germany, on August 25 and tried to burn the altar cloth as well. The damage was worth thousands of euros. The parish priest of the church said, “The altar is not a normal table; it is a holy place.” He also said, “It was not an innocent joke; it was gross damage.”
After three days, a 27-year-old man was caught in St. Johnston, Ireland, on charges that he tried to set fire to three holy buildings, two of which were Christian churches.
Arsonists burned down most of the ancient Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint Omer, France, on September 1. It took about 120 firemen several hours of work to put out the fire.
The person who did it was an extreme left-wing Antifa member who had shared anti-Christian and pro-Islamic State material on social media before. The man has tried to burn down 15 Christian buildings before.
Someone also set fire to the parish church in Northern Ireland, on the same day. The church had just enjoyed its 70th anniversary the night before, but the big fire burned most of it.
Italy also had church doors set on fire, on September 2 in the city of Mazara in Sicily, the door to the Church of the Miracle. On September 14, someone set fire to the oratory of the Migliarina church in Viareggio, a beach town in Tuscany. The fire destroyed the entire inside of the building, forcing several young boys to leave.
In contrast, three such killings against Christians have happened in the Netherlands in the last two weeks.
On September 7, someone set fire to a Marian chapel in the southeastern city of Gennep. This is the third time in recent months that someone has damaged or destroyed this church.
On September 13, thieves set fire to the candelabrum in Mill’s Saint Willibrord church, which covered the church in soot.
The next day, people in Wijchen badly damaged two images of the Virgin Mary and set fire to many religious items in the church of St. Anthony Abbot. In the Marian church, candles and rosaries, as well as a wooden figure of Mary, were set on fire. It’s just the statue’s head and body left, badly burned but mostly whole. The stone figure of Mary in the church garden’s Lourdes cave was completely broken.
Officers have arrested a Nijmegen woman, 38, on suspicion of destroying property and setting fire to the Saint Anthony church.
