The report found that attacks on churches are at an all-time high, occurring in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Specifically, the report documented more than 430 incidents in 2023, double the figure for 2022, amounting to an 800% increase since 2018 or an average of 39 attacks per month. These included vandalism, arson and attempts at arson, bomb threats, interruption of worship, and gun-related incidents.
According to the FRC report, from January 2018 to November 2023, there were 709 vandalisms, 135 arson attacks or attempts at arson, 22 incidents involving firearms, 32 bomb threats, and 61 incidents involving assaults, threats, and interruption of worship.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Arielle Del Turco, director of FRC’s Center for Religious Liberty and author of the report, observed: “Our culture is demonstrating a growing disdain for Christianity and core Christian beliefs, and acts of hostility against churches could be a physical manifestation of that.”
“When a statue of Mary outside of a Catholic church is beheaded, it is natural for congregants to feel disturbed and upset, and that may be the vandal’s aim,” the report noted. “Acts of hostility against churches can send the message — regardless of whether it is the perpetrator’s intent — that churches are not wanted in the community or respected in general. This may cause congregants or church leaders to feel unsafe.”
The symbolism of the vandalism is not lost on observers, who noted, for example, that the Christmas crèche at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish in the New York City borough of Queens was attacked twice on the same night in January.
Also during January, suspects broke a stained-glass window and attacked a cross at St. Columba Church in Brooklyn, New York.
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