Isabel Vaughan Spruce and Father Sean Gough

Three stories highlight attacks on religious liberty in Europe. I’m sure there are many more, but these are the ones that have come to my attention in recent weeks:

Abortion clinic buffers zones in the UK.

First, The United Kingdom’s Safe Access Zones prohibits any activity that might be interpreted by anyone as a protest against abortion within 100 to 150 meters of any facility where abortions are performed. This includes silently praying in one’s own head. Not talking. Not shouting. Not praying out loud. Not carrying a rosary, prayer book, or Bible. Not gathering as a group. An individual simply praying quietly in his or her own head can get them arrested and, possibly, charged and fined.

At least two people, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce and Fr. Sean Gough, have been arrested for praying quietly in their heads within the “buffer zone” surrounding an abortion clinic. The charges against both were dropped, and the West Midlands Police paid Ms. Vaughan-Spruce 13,000 pounds to settle a lawsuit she had brought against them for violating her human rights. Adam Smith-Connor wasn’t so lucky as to have his charges dropped. He was arrested in November 2022 for praying silently for his unborn son, who was aborted 22 years prior, within the buffer zone of an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, England. The judge found him guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of 9,000 pounds. In the UK now, a retired minister named Clive Johnston was convicted of violating an abortion clinic buffer zone when, in July 2024, he commenced to preach publicly outside near a hospital where abortions are performed. Rev. Johnston’s sermon did not mention abortion and, indeed, wasn’t about abortion. It was a reflection on the verse John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” For this, Rev. Johnston was arrested, charged, convicted, and fined 450 pounds.

Now, Northern Ireland, which remains a part of the UK, has issued a statement warning that clergy or laypeople face criminal charges if they bring a Bible, wear clerical garb, or pray at the bedside of a patient if they do so in a hospital where abortions are performed and someone complains about seeing them in clerical garb, or seeing them pray with patients or their families. Even innocent, consensual praying and/or counseling a patient will not exempt one from being charged and possibly paying a fine. This means that, if a person is dying and requests a visit from their priest or minister, if that priest or minister brings his Bible or prayer book inside the hospital, or prays with the patient or family, he could face possible criminal charges. What matters is not one’s status as a cleric, not one’s intention of providing comfort for the family, not the consent of the family or patient, not even responding to the request of the patient or family. What matters is, if someone is there for an abortion or to support another who has an abortion, sees you in your clerical garb and/or collar and complains that your presence and activity makes the uncomfortable, or feeling harrassed, then your complaint will go to management, who will rule on the appropriate discipline. I imagine that these rulings will almost always favor the complainannt. I also imagine that people who nurture a hosility toward religion will exploit this policy and lodge a complaint against a cleric in the hospital, even if the presence of the cleric has nothing to do with abortion. I also imagine that, hospitals not wanting the trouble, will choose the easy path and simply bar priests and ministers from bringing religious items into the hospital request that they not come back as a result of one accusations – not the result of twelve angry men sharing a jury deliberation.

Bishop and MP fined for hate crime.

Second, the Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola, bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland and Dr. Paivi Rasanen, a member of the Finish Parliament and a medical doctor, have been found guilty of a hate crime in Finland and fined a figure equivalent to twenty days of wages for publishing a 2004 pamphlet Dr. Rasanen wrote and Bishop Pohjola supported, criticizing the homosexual lifestyle and the support for LGBT “Pride” in the Lutheran Church and defending a biblical view of marraige. Both Bishop Pohjola and Dr. Rasanen were cleared of all wrongdoing by a lower court in 2022. But it seems there are no “doube jeopardy” protections in Finland, and the prosecution appealed that decision to the Helsinki Court of Appeals, where the bishop and MP were also acquitted, and then to Finland’s Supreme Court, which found them guilty and imposed the fine.

Sweden keeps girls in state custody, citing “religious extremism” of parents.

Third, in December 2022, the Swedish government removed two girls, Sara and Tiana, from their parents, Daniel and Bianca Samson, and have kept them in state custody for three years. The incident was sparked by a false accusation by Sara, then 11 years old, of abuse by her parents after arguing with them about being denied makeup and a smart phone. The parents are Pentecostal Christians who take their faith very seriously, so their daughters are not allowed to wear makeup, watch TV, and the family was attending church services three times weekly. An investigation found no evidence of abuse, and Sara recanted her accusation. Even still, Swedish authorities have refused to return the girls to their parents on grounds of “religious extremism,” pointing to the above cited practices as evidence. The Samsons, who are citizen of Romania, as are their daughters, have taken the matter to the Swedish and European courts over a dozen times, and have lost over a dozen times. In the meantime, supporters of the Samsons have reported that both girls have attempted to kill themselves and regularly request to be returned to their parents, while the Swedish authorities insist that the girls don’t want to go back home. The elder daughter, Tiana, has been moved to an adult psychiatric hospital. When the parents took the matter public, the Swedish authorities cut off all communication between the parents and girls and have indicated their plan to rename the girls, which the father feels is a step before forced adoption.

Anti-Christian violence in Europe soars.

On top of those three examples, the The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) has reported an increase in violent attacks against Christian churches and individuals on the continent. The nature of the attacks include arson, vandalism, desecration of holy places and items, physical violence against clergy or individual believers and converts, theft, and disruption of worship services. France recorded the most incidents in the month of June 2026, but other nations cited in the report include Germany, Italy, the UK, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Estonia, and Poland. Incidents include the burning of a liturgical book in La Chapelle-Caro, France, the harassment of Catholic worshippers as they prayed in Poissy, France while protesters shouted “Allahu Akbar” and anti-Christian slurs.

ISIS called for attacks on Pope Leo XIV while he was in Spain last month. Happily, nothing happened. Last month, however, did see the destruction by arson of the historic 150-year-old Convent of Mercy in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland. Crosses were set on fire during a musical festival in Poland. OIDAC reported that Cowdenbeath Baptist Church in Scotland, Hanau’s Holy Spirit Church in Germany, and Belgium’s St. Peter’ Church in Lommel have come under repeated attacks. Attacks on individuals included a violent assault on a street preacher at Speaker’s Corner in London’s Hyde Park, the assault of a woman praying in a French cathedral, and the assault of a Catholic priest during a rectory burglary in Levie, Corsica. Ahmen Yetrib, a religion teacher in Belgium, has received threats of violence against him after posting on social media the account of his conversion from Islam to Catholicism. Horribly, Ashur Sarnaya, an Iraqi refugee and convert to Christianity, was fatally stabbed in Lyon. Sarnaya had been livestreaming about his faith journey on TikTok when he was martyred. The OIDAC Europe included over 2,200 documented anti-Christian hate crimes across Europe, including 270 physical attacks on individual believers.

Given the rise in violence against Christian institutions and individuals, one would think that European authorities would respond with efforts to crack down on these attacks. One would be wrong. The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) has criticized the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) of “an ongoing reluctance to fully acknowledge anti-Christian acts.” PACE, according to AI, is “the deliberative and parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, an international organization dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy, and the rule of law across the continent.” Apparently, while attacks against Jews and attacks against Muslim warrent the attention of European authorities, attacks against Christians are largely dismissed or not even on the radar.

Europe, of course, was once a bastion of Christianity. For centuries, nations, tribes, and empires dedicated themselves to Christ and to governing on Christian principles. While far from perfect, these efforts proved a foundation of civilzation that carried Europe from the end of the fourth century into the mid-20th century. Since then, however, there has been an increasing corrosion of the Christian people in Europe, and almost an eagerness of European leaders to ignore or even erase the Christian history of their individual countries and of the continent as a whole. Europe’s leaders have stressed the prority of secularism over Christianity, even while attempting to make Muslim immigrants to Europe feel welcome and to protect them against discrimination. This is all well and good. But to ignore or dismiss or treat as secondary the violence Christian institutions and individuals in Europe endure is to surrender the mandate of a civilized people to protect all persons and religions with equal deference and the force of law. That is not happening in Europe. And there are those who want to bring their system of government to the United States. No, thank you. Freedom of religion and freedom of speech are the benchmarks of civilation, and they are both under attack in Europe, not only by immigrants and some other left wing polticians, but by the top leadership of the continent. Americans ought not surrender those rights out of some naive devotion to Europe. There’s too much at stake.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.