‘Socially acceptable’ anti-Church violence in Europe a warning sign for Canada: expert

An expert on anti-Christian hate crime in Europe says a surging wave of attacks on churches there has important lessons for Canada, where a wildfire of anti-Church vandalism and arson has spread in the past two months.

Madeleine Enzlberger, executive director of the Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe), says hate crimes should be countered by a strong and ongoing response from government and news media, as well as by a Church that is committed to the truth – of its own actions as well as those now tormenting it.

Here is an edited text of an email interview with Enzlberger.

B.C. Catholic: Why was it necessary to establish your organization?

Enzlberger: OIDAC Europe was established more than 10 years ago because no one in authority was paying any attention to the growing number of obvious incidents of discrimination and intolerance against Christians in Europe. Non-government organizations, international organizations like the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and even government departments were monitoring cases of intolerance and discrimination against minority groups and religious groups like Jews, Muslims, and Roma, but not against Christians.  We didn’t start our work out of self-pity or because we wanted to take attention away from the wrongdoings that are perpetrated against members of other religions. We want to function as an institution that raises awareness about the problems Christians are currently facing in Europe. Our ultimate goal is to safeguard the human rights of Christians in Europe.

B.C. Catholic: What do you think is the cause of the attacks on the Church worldwide?

Enzlberger: We can identify several groups of perpetrators. For example we have attacks from private people who dislike the Catholic church. There are also explicitly anti-religious groups. We also see Satanists vandalizing churches and stealing consecrated objects, like hosts. There are also far-left groups like ANTIFA, extreme LGBTQ+, and extreme feminist groups which all have moral and political motives. We also have attacks perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists. We had numerous events in recent times that set off a considerably high number of attacks against churches in Europe, like is currently the case in Canada. For example, the change of the abortion law in Poland led to many violent attacks against the Catholic Church, mostly perpetrated by extreme feminist groups. Another example would be the Black Lives Matter movement that swamped Europe from the U.S. and, sadly, with it the violence against churches and public Christian symbols. One of the most recent examples is the pan-European vandalism sparked by the Vatican’s denying the blessing of same-sex couple marriage.

‘Simply put, violence against the Church seems to be becoming more socially acceptable.’

B.C. Catholic: Are the anti-Christian attacks and hate crimes getting worse?

Enzlberger: Yes, this is certainly the trend over the last 10 years. A recent example from Scotland highlights the problem. The latest figures show that Catholics are the most common victims of religious prejudice and hate crime in Scotland. In fact, 42 per cent of religiously motivated hate crimes are perpetrated against Catholics, compared to 26 per cent against Muslims and 10 per cent against Protestants. Hate crimes in this form are typically only the visible tip of an iceberg that consists of a wider social dynamic of intolerance and discrimination against Christians in Europe. Vandalism can be considered the most obvious face of intolerance that cannot be denied or dismissed because it is a material fact. From our perspective, negative societal and political sentiments against Christians are becoming more systemic and seem to be more tolerated than resentments against other religious minorities. Simply put, violence against the Church seems to be becoming more socially acceptable.

Biased depiction of Church history, in both the mainstream media and the educational sector, seems to fuel these harmful stereotypes and narratives. This is a worrying trend that should not be underestimated and needs to be countered. Unfortunately, history has taught us what happens if a society legitimizes violence against a designated scapegoat. We should be smarter. Dynamics like this ultimately damage the foundations of our democratic societies, which, in the end, is detrimental for us all.

B.C. Catholic: Do you think governments are doing enough to respond to the attacks?

Enzlberger: In general, it can be said that governments are slowly starting to recognize the problem, but our bigger problem is the prevailing bias among media. Incidents are either not reported on, like the most recent violent attack in Paris against a Catholic procession, or the media simply talk down apparent incidents like the explicit and brutal killing of three Christians in a church in Nice last year. If any of this would happen to any other religious group, the government and media reaction would definitely be different. That said, the Scottish government recently granted the Church access to funding to protect itself from future hate crimes, which means that churches can get funding to install security measures against vandalism and other attacks.

B.C. Catholic: What advice do you have for Canadian Catholics? Should they brace for worse to come?

Enzlberger: This is clearly not just a Catholic problem but a Christian one. But compared to other churches, especially in Europe, the Catholic church has the longest history, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is an advantage because the Church has the structural and political power of the world Church on its side. This means if the Church wants to, it can have an influential voice on a global level. The disadvantage is clearly the many things that happened in the history of the Church, which were undoubtedly not right but are also, like it is the case in Canada now, taken out of context or portrayed in a biased way that does not reflect the truth in its entirety.

 ‘Hate crimes in this form are typically only the visible tip of an iceberg that consists of a wider social dynamic of intolerance and discrimination against Christians in Europe.’

I think the best way to go forward is to actively shape a counter-narrative of truth. This means being self-critical and fully transparent but at the same time not moving away from the truth supported by facts. The worst thing that can happen now is silence or joining in on the polarizing and divisive debate of us vs. them. We need to raise more awareness about this issue and churches possibly need better protection by the state. Christians should hold their politicians accountable on this and make them aware of the reality. Additionally, we need to encourage people and churches to speak up about what happened. The usual problem with hate crimes is that the dark figure is very high because victims do not speak up about what happened. This needs to change.

Founded in 2010, the Observatory is a registered nongovernmental organization and a member of the Fundamental Rights Platform of the EU-Fundamental Rights Agency. Its mission is to contribute to a Europe where Christians may fully exercise their fundamental rights to freedom of religion, conscience, expression, and association, without fear of reprisals, censorship, threats, or violence. For more information visit https://www.intoleranceagainstchristians.eu.