Attacks against clergy appear to be on the rise around the world, with the latest assault in Singapore on Saturday, November 9, in which a priest was stabbed in the face during Mass, marking at least the third such attack this month. It will be.
Father Christopher Lee, the parish priest of St. Joseph's Church in the Bukit Timah area of midwestern Singapore, was reportedly attacked with a knife by Basnayake Keith Spencer while he was receiving Holy Communion. catholic media Friday OSV News.
Spencer was reportedly charged with “voluntarily causing grievous bodily harm with a dangerous weapon” and was given a three-week remand by a Singapore court.
Antonio González Alonso, Isidro Fernández Cordero and Genaro Hueyo Castanon y Segundo, known as the Martyrs of Nembra, who were killed during the Spanish Civil War, at the Cathedral of Oviedo, Spain, on October 8, 2016. Priests attending the mass beatification ceremony of Alonso Gonzalez. (Reuters/Eloy Alonso)
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Lee reportedly suffered a “laceration to his tongue” and cuts to his upper lip and the corner of his mouth. He is said to be recovering from his injuries.
A priest in Singapore was not the only priest to be assaulted last Saturday, a convent in Spain's Valencia region was also attacked by a middle-aged man who shouted “I am Jesus Christ” during an ambush before being subdued.
A statement from the Immaculate Conception organization said three monks from the Santo Espiritu del Monte Monastery in Gire, Spain, were attacked by an unidentified man “brandishing a blunt object and in a violent and provocative manner.” He was injured in the attack after breaking into the premises. The Franciscans, the community to which the monastery belongs, issued several reports.
Father Juan Antonio Llorente, 76, one of the three monks attacked in the incident, was injured on Monday and died in hospital two days later.
On Nov. 9, another attack on a priest occurred in Poland, with Father Lech Lachowicz, 72, dying from extensive brain damage in the attack a week earlier.
On November 3, an unidentified axe-wielding 27-year-old man attacked Rajowicz in his parsonage during an attempted robbery in the Szczetno parish in northeastern Poland.
The perpetrator was taken into custody.
The series of attacks around the world comes about a month after a priest was brutally attacked inside his Philadelphia home across the street from St. Maron's Maronite Catholic Church, but the priest is recovering. It is reported that.
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Hate crimes against not only Catholics but also Jews, Muslims, and others are on the rise around the world, especially in Europe and the United States.
A small church sanctuary with pews and pulpit. (St. Petersburg)
a Report released on Friday According to a study by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), more than 4,480 hate crimes against Jews, 580 hate crimes against Christians, and nearly 240 hate crimes against Muslims were reported in 48 European countries. are.
Although anti-Christian and anti-Islamic incidents have decreased, OSCE records in 2022crimes against Jews increased by more than 20% from the previous year.
In the United States, attacks against Catholics ranked fourth in 2023, behind targeted attacks against Sikhs, Muslims, and Jews, respectively. However, attacks have been on the rise in recent years, although there has been a spike in attacks following Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war. The damage occurred in the Gaza Strip, and has since spread to Lebanon, and has also spread to Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
The FBI reported in September: 3% decrease While the overall number of hate crimes in the U.S. increased between 2023 and 2022, the numbers show that the number of religiously motivated hate crimes committed last year also increased by 20%.
more 2,500 religiously-based hate crimes In the United States, it was reported in 2023, a significant increase from what was almost reported. 2,050 incidents were reported in the previous year.
Anti-Semitic bias accounted for more than half of all religion-based hate crimes in 2022, but that number skyrocketed in 2023 to account for approximately 67% of all religion-based hate crimes in the United States.
Anti-Muslim hate crimes ranked second with 236 incidents last year, accounting for less than 9% of all religion-based hate crimes that year, according to the FBI.
Armed private security guards guard the main entrance of Adas Torah Synagogue on Monday, June 24, 2024 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damien Dovarganes)
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Attacks against Sikhs accounted for 5% and attacks against Catholics accounted for nearly 3%.
All attacks against Christians, defined by Catholics, Protestants, and “other Christians,” accounted for more than 6% of religious hate crimes, accounting for 176 incidents reported in 2023.
of BBC reported in October There was a similar trend in England and Wales, where overall hate crimes fell by 5%, but religiously-based hate crimes increased by 25%.
Crimes against Jews more than doubled, from just over 1,540 in 2022 to more than 3,280 in 2023. Attacks against Muslims also increased by 13% in England and Wales.
