There were 849 incidents of theft and vandalism against churches and chapels within the German state of Baden-Württemberg last yr, official figures reveal.
Incidents against chapels rose by 26% on the previous yr. The cost of the damage to each churches and chapels runs into lots of of hundreds of euros, Evangelical Focus reports.
The stats were collated by the state’s interior ministry in response to a request from the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
Despite the numbers, the ministry said that the situation was “stable overall” and that “there aren’t any indications of a general lack of social respect for religious symbols and cultural assets within the state”.
The FDP were less relaxed concerning the situation, nevertheless. The group’s spokesperson for churches, Tim Kern, said, “Churches are usually not only sacred to many individuals, they’re places of protection, peace, comfort and community. Vandalism in churches is subsequently a double sacrilege.”
The ministry figures revealed that the majority cases went unsolved, with only one in six cases involving chapels being solved. In cases involving churches, a suspect was only identified in about one in 4 cases.
The claim that there was no lack of respect for church and spiritual symbols has been disputed by a spokesman for the Catholic German Bishops’ Conference, who recently said there had been an “escalation” in hostility against Christian symbols across Germany.
Michael Hertl, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Freiburg, said that “churches are sacred places, and burglars are sometimes unaware of the spiritual impact their actions have”.
“Churches must be and remain open places, in the event that they now resolve to shut through the day or to secure themselves, this creates barriers that could be harmful,” he said.
In Britain there was a spike in thefts affecting churches after the tip of the Covid lockdowns, driven mostly by the tip of the restrictions but in addition by rising metal prices. British churches have for a long time faced the scourge of lead thieves targeting church roofs.
Typically, the associated fee of repairing or replacing a lead roof could be within the tens of hundreds of kilos.
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