Two acts of vandalism inside St. Peter’s Basilica last week have prompted questions about increasing protection and security. Guides who regularly take pilgrims and tourists to pray and to see the Basilica’s priceless art and artifacts are resisting tightening security, saying suggestions of glass barriers risk compromising the sacred nature of the space. It is Read more
St Mary’s Star of the Sea Church in Gisborne was spray-painted with racist obscenities and anti-religious insults last week. Abusive messages against the Christian religion and Pakeha were spray-painted in green on the state highway side of the church, next to Campion College, on Wednesday night. Parish priest Monsignor Frank Eggleton said bad timing made Read more
The pastor at an Indiana church says he forgives a vandal or vandals who painted vulgar images and curse words on the walls of a building, which stands next to the church sanctuary. Continue reading
A new community patrol group has been proposed for Temuka to monitor community safety following vandalism in the town. The Temuka Boxing Club and St Joseph’s Church were broken into and vandalised on Sunday. The church suffered more than $7000 worth of damage after two historical statues were destroyed. Continue reading
A Taranaki priest says the church doors will stay open despite a recent theft which fleeced a parish of more than $2,000 in electronics equipment. Father Craig Butler said while crime which targeted churches was rare, the impact was widely felt among parishioners. In June, a thief made off with five microphones and other electronic Read more
Days after St Junipero Serra was canonised by Pope Francis, a statue of him has been defaced in California in what local police say is a hate crime. The vandalism of the statue of St Junipero at Carmel Mission, where he is buried, came three days after the canonisation in Washington, DC. Vandals damaged statues, Read more
A vandalism spree at the Christchurch Islamic Centre is not believed to be racially-motivated. Representatives of the Lincoln Rd centre contacted police today after finding the premises had been entered and damaged. Sergeant Todd Webley of Christchurch Police says there is no indication at this stage that the break-in was racially motivated. “There are no Read more
A statue of the Virgin Mary has been smashed in an act of vandalism. Church staff noticed the shattered shell in its grotto behind the church building in Maxwell Rd yesterday after the Queen’s Birthday Weekend. Continue Reading and more
Vandals defaced the walls of one of Jerusalem’s best-known Catholic churches on Tuesday. Police said the perpetrators, who are believed to be Jewish extremists, defaced a wall leading to the Church of the Dormition, a century-old structure built on the site where tradition says the Virgin Mary died. The graffiti read “Jesus, son of a Read more