Church arson is the burning of, or attempting to burn, religious property. Around the world, arson is committed because empty churches are a soft target, or due to

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

, racial hatred, pyromania, prejudice against certain religions or religious beliefs greed, as part of a sectarian campaign of

communal violence Communal violence is a form of violence that is perpetrated across ethnic or communal lines, the violent parties feel solidarity for their respective groups, and victims are chosen based upon group membership. The term includes conflicts, riots ...

, or as a means of anonymously registering dissent or anti-religious sentiment. In the United States, arson of black churches was common in the south around the 1960s during the civil rights struggles.

Arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

continued to proliferate, especially in the 1990s, damaging many black churches. As a result, Congress passed the Church Arson Prevention Act in 1996. In addition, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

formed the National Church Arson Task Force due to the sharp increase in church arson. The

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...

(ATF) was created as a division of the Treasury Department in 1972 to investigate arson (it is now a part of the Department of Justice).

By country

Australia

In 2015, St. James church in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, Melbourne was burnt to the ground after allegations of sexual abuse came out regarding former priest Ronald Pickering. Australian actress Rachel Griffiths, formerly a member of the church, said she was 'quite elated'. St. Mary's Catholic Church in

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...

, also connected to Pickering, was burnt as well. St. Mary's Church in

St Kilda East St Kilda East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Glen Eira and Port Phillip local government areas. St Kilda East recorded a population of 1 ...

was damaged by suspicious fire after being connected to former priest and convicted child sex offender Kevin O'Donnell.

Canada

The historic St. John's Anglican Church of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia caught fire in a suspected arson on

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

night, 2001. It was later reconstructed, reopening on June 12, 2005. A serial church arsonist in Merritt, British Columbia was arrested following the burning of the 143-year-old Murray United Church. St. Andrew’s Anglican Church and South Caradoc United Church, both in Muncey, Ontario, were destroyed by fire on the same day after former Anglican priest David Norton was convicted of sex crimes against children in his parish. After the

2021 Canadian Indian residential schools gravesite discoveries Throughout its history, between 3,200 and 6,000 students died while attending the Canadian Indian residential school system. The exact number remains unknown due to incomplete records. Comparatively few cemeteries associated with residential sch ...

, at least seven B.C. Catholic churches on Indigenous land were burned to the ground. An Anglican church in B.C. was found on fire but the fire was isolated and put out. Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

, the

band governments In Canada, an Indian band or band (french: bande indienne, link=no), sometimes referred to as a First Nation band (french: bande de la Première Nation, link=no) or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subjec ...

and chiefs have condemned the arsons. Other groups voiced support for the arsons.

Harsha Walia Harsha Walia is a Canadian activist and writer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has been involved with No one is illegal, the February 14 Women's Memorial March Committee, the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, and several Downtown Eas ...

, the executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, tweeted "burn it all down," and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs expressed "strong solidarity with (Harsha Walia) in condemning the brutally gruesome genocide of residential ‘school’ system by Canada and Church while crown stole FN land".

Chile

In the lead-up to

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

's visit to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in January 2018, there were a number of arson attacks on churches in the capital,

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. Typically, the attacks involved firebombing accompanied by spraying of accelerants. A barrel believed to contain flammable liquid was discovered in one

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

church. However the damage was insignificant and was quick and easy to repair. Pamphlets addressing the pontiff left at the scene of one of the conflagrations read: "The next bombs will be in your cassock." The papal visit was dominated by issues surrounding the sex-crimes of Reverend Fernando Karadima, whose protégé Bishop

Juan Barros Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid (born 15 July 1956) is a Chilean prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Bishop of Osorno from 2015 to 2018. He was Auxiliary Bishop of Valparaíso from 1995 to 2000, Bishop of Iquique from 2000 to 2004, and Militar ...

was protected by the Pope, despite accusations of complicity. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet addressed the "strange" firebombing of the churches on radio: "In a democracy, people can express themselves as long as they do it in a peaceful way."

India

During the

1998 attacks on Christians in southeastern Gujarat The 1998 attacks on Christians in southeastern Gujarat refers to the wave of attacks against Christians mostly around the Dangs District of Southeastern Gujarat from late 1997 to early 1999. The attacks reportedly started at the end of 1997 b ...

, the

Human Rights watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

reported dozens of churches and prayer halls burned down by

Sangh Parivar The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" or the "RSS family") refers, as an umbrella term, to the collection of Hindu nationalist organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which rema ...

organizations. Hundreds of churches were set on fire and burnt down during the

2008 Kandhamal violence The 2008 Kandhamal violence refers to widespread violence against Christians purportedly incited by Hindutva organisations in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, India, in August 2008 after the murder of the Hindu monk Lakshmanananda Saraswati. Acc ...

in the Kandhamal district of Orissa. In St. Sebastian's Church in Delhi severely burned in December 2014. Although the authorities initially claimed that the fire was structural, the police later announced that the fire was caused by arson.

Niger

Following the Charlie Hebdo shooting in January 2015, 45 churches were burned down by Islamists in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesFantoft Stave Church, a wooden structure built in 1150 in Fortun, when the Vikings converted to Christianity and moved to Bergen in 1883, was burnt down. At first the fire was attributed to lightning and electrical failure. In January 1993

Varg Vikernes Louis Cachet (born Kristian Vikernes; 11 February 1973), better known as Varg Vikernes (), is a Norwegian writer and retired musician best known for his early black metal albums and later crimes. His first five records, issued under the name Bur ...

, also known as "Count Grishnackh", was interviewed by a local journalist in his apartment decorated with 'Nazi paraphernalia, weapons, and Satanic symbols'. Vikernes, a proponent of

White nationalism White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara. ''Hate Crimes''. Greenwoo ...

, survivalism and his racialist

neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...

ideology, has declared that he wants to blow up

Blitz House Blitz House ( no, Blitzhuset) is an anarchist, communist and socialist self-managed social centre in Oslo, Norway, founded in 1982. Having started as a squat, it is now legalized and based on Pilestredet. The centre hosts activities such as po ...

and

Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral ( no, Nidarosdomen / Nidaros Domkirke) is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county. It is built over the burial site of Olav II of Norway, King Olav II (c. 995–1030, reigned 1015–102 ...

. He has publicly supported black metal fans burning down eight churches in Norway. He used a photo of the charred remnants of one church taken soon after the fire on his band

Burzum Burzum (; ) was a Norwegian music project founded by Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a part of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most influential acts in black m ...

's album entitled Aske ( Norwegian for ashes). Following his statement the Norwegian authorities began to clamp down on the black metal scene. In 1994, Vikernes was found guilty of murder, arson and possession of illegal weapons (including explosives) and given the maximum sentence under Norwegian law of 21 years in prison. He was released in 2009.

United Kingdom

In 1973, St Mary's Church in Putney,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, was badly damaged in an arson attack. On 20 October 1987 the church of

St Peter's Church, Eaton Square St. Peter's Church, Eaton Square, is a Church of England parish church at the east end of Eaton Square, Belgravia, London. It is a neoclassical building designed by the architect Henry Hakewill with a hexastyle portico with Ionic columns and ...

in central London was set on fire by an anti-Catholic arsonist, who mistook the building for a Roman Catholic church. In 1998 the church of St Bartholomew Allen's Cross in

Northfield Northfield may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland * Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland * Northfield, Birmingham, England * Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England United States * Northfield, Connec ...

, a district of the UK's second city,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, was attacked by arsonists. The church was deemed beyond repair and demolished in 2008. St Barnabas' Church in

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

, Birmingham was badly damaged by fire in 2007, arson is suspected.

United States

History

Within the Hate Crime Statistics Act, blacks are one of the groups that are the targets of the most hate crimes of any type, one of which is arson to their places of worship. An African-American scholar and historian,

C. Eric Lincoln Charles Eric Lincoln (June 23, 1924 – May 14, 2000) was an American scholar.Eric V. Copage in ''The New York Times'', May 17, 2000.Penne J. Laubenthal"C. Eric Lincoln" Encyclopedia of Alabama, June 14, 2011. He was the author of several books, i ...

, wrote in his book, ''Coming Through the Fire: Surviving Race and Place in America'', that the first recorded church arson to a black church happened in 1822 in South Carolina. These kinds of arsons also occurred in Cincinnati in 1829 and through the 1830s in Philadelphia by white mobs. In the 1950s and 1960s, as civil rights activism and the desegregation of public places such as schools and restaurants were starting to increase, so was the burning and bombing of black churches. A more notorious bombing in September, 1963, occurred to the

16th Street Baptist Church The 16th Street Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. In 1963, the church was bombed by Ku Klux Klan members. The bombing killed four young girls in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. The church is stil ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, where four young girls were killed. Church arson continued to be a problem in the southern United States in the early 1990s for African American churches. The arsonists were generally young, white males with racism as their driving force, and were often under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Although arson began happening at white churches in January 1995, it was still mostly directed towards black churches. The motive for these church burnings began crossing from racial hatred to other motives such as revenge, vandalism, and the influence of media. For example, a gang of Georgia teenagers who were high school dropouts, robbed, vandalized, and burned 90 churches that were both black and white. When interrogated, they told the police that if they couldn’t get money, they vandalized or burned the place as a result of this.

Church Arson Prevention Act

The S. 1980 (104th): Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996 was introduced to Congress on June 19, 1996, but died because the Senate Committee found some places for improvement of the bill. It was sponsored by congressman Duncan Faircloth. On May 23, 1996, the House of Representatives introduced H.R. 3525 (104th): Church Arson Prevention Act. The Act was passed by both houses in Congress and signed by President

on July 3, 1996. This bill became law number Pub.L. 104-155. It was sponsored by Republican Henry Hyde. The bill was summarized by the Congressional Research Service as follows: “

he Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996 He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

makes Federal criminal code prohibitions against, and penalties for, damaging religious property or obstructing any person’s free exercise of religious beliefs applicable where the offense is in or affects, interstate commerce.” One of the changes in the bill was the sentence increase for “defacing or destroying any religious real property because of race, color, or ethnic characteristics…” from 10 to 20 years. It also changed the statute of limitations from five years to seven years after the date the crime was committed. It reauthorizes the Hate Crimes Statistics Act.

National Church Arson Task Force

President Clinton created the National Church Arson Task Force (NCATF) to look for any connections among the church arsons and help take off some loads of overburdened state and local police forces. According to a first-year report to the president in June 1997, they opened investigation to 429 cases of arson, bombings, or attempted bombings of churches since January 1, 1995. In a second-year report in October 1998 to the president, they opened 241 more cases that happened between January 1, 1995, and September 8, 1998, making a total of 670 opened investigations. In a third-year report in January 2000 to the president, NCATF opened an investigation to another 157 cases making it a total of 827. They helped to solve many of these arson and bombing cases. The Task Force is now disbanded, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) continues to investigate church burnings that occur. The number of church arsons decreased drastically (82 percent) from 1,320 in 1980 to 240 in 2002 according to the

National Fire Protection Association The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. As of 2018, the NFPA claims to have 50,000 mem ...

. A 2013

report found that 16% of fires at religious buildings were intentionally lit.

2015

After the

Charleston church shooting On June 17, 2015, a mass shooting occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, in which nine African Americans were killed during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Among those people who were killed was the senior past ...

in June 2015, a number of suspected church arson attacks were documented.

References

{{reflist, 30em Attacks on churches Hate crimes Arson