PARIS, FRANCE (ANS) –Vandals caused serious damage in an attack on a French Church. The church in Angoulême, France, was severely damaged on March 8 by vandals seemingly intent on sabotaging worship services.
Barnabas Fund reports the intruders sabotaged the sound system and threw large quantities of paint on walls, chairs, a piano and Bibles at the Hope and Life Church. The cost of repairs is estimated to be €11,000 (£9,400; $12,400).
The Hope and Life Church in Angoulême, France, was the most recent target as attacks by vandals on Christian churches in the country spiral upwards.
The church’s Pastor Joseph Miall spoke of a deliberate “will to destroy” that seemed to be intent on preventing worship services.
This was the latest in a spate of attacks against churches in France since the beginning of the year. The National Council of Evangelicals in France report that there has been an increase of 25% in serious incidents of vandalism against Christian churches in 2019, compared with the same period in 2018.
On February 5, a fire was started at the Cathedral of Lavaur and, the following day, excrement was smeared in the shape of a cross on a wall of a church in Nîmes. A church interior in Dijon was defaced on February 9 and a statue of Christ was beheaded at a church in the village Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie on February 23.
A church in Houilles was reportedly targeted three times within a week, near the beginning of the year.
