Report: Christian church attacks down, but recent totals still higher than 2018-2022

(OSV News) -- Attacks on Christian churches in the U.S. last year totaled 415 -- down from 485 in 2023 -- although they are "significantly higher" than totals recorded from 2018 to 2022, according to a new report from the Washington-based Family Research Council.

The nonprofit, founded in 1983 to promote Judeo-Christian values, marriage and family, released its latest "Hostility Against Churches" findings Aug. 11.

The annual report -- which is based on open-source data such as online documents, news articles, television coverage and media notices from advocacy organizations -- was launched in 2022, with data in the inaugural summary dating back to 2018.

FRC classified incidents as vandalism; arson or attempted arson; gun-related events either taking place on church property or targeting the church or its members; and both real and hoax bomb threats.

A final category, "other," encompassed physical assault, church service disruptions and general threats of harm.

Thirteen incidents in 2024 fell into more than one category, said the report.

FRC used search terms such as "church threats," "church vandalism" and "church arson" to gather the open-source data.

The 415 incidents in 2024 affected a total of 383 churches, said FRC. OSV News' review of FRC's data showed at least 100 of those churches or church-related properties were Catholic.

Among the incidents included in the list were an attack on a Catholic shrine in Portland, Oregon, an assault on a Maronite Catholic priest in his Philadelphia rectory and vandalization at the National Shrine of St. John Neumann in Philadelphia.

FRC found the 12-month total for 2024 "is nearly equal to the findings from our very first report, which covered 57 months."

California had the highest number of 2024 incidents, with 40 noted by FRC, followed by Pennsylvania (29), Florida (25), New York (25), Texas (23), Tennessee (19) and Ohio (19).

Vandalism accounted for more than 68% (284 out of 415) of the incidents, FRC noted in its report. It said that "in most cases, the motives and identities of the perpetrators were unknown, and some of the churches may have merely been victims of opportunistic vandalism."

A number of churches "experienced repeated vandalism," the FRC report said. It pointed to Bethel Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon, as one such example.

The report also noted, "Many instances of vandalism involved inexplicable destructive behaviors, such as smashed windows or destroyed statues."

It stated, "Some acts of vandalism appear to have been motivated by anger toward a particular church or churches in general. Other incidents seemed to have had political motivations, targeting churches based on their views regarding human sexuality or dignity."

FRC's report noted some perpetrators were minors "or individuals likely dealing with mental health challenges."

In addition, the report said, "A few vandals appeared motivated by financial gain, stealing valuable materials such as copper wiring and air conditioning parts."

Arson, including attempted arson, represented 13% (55) of the 2024 incident total, with bomb threats at 3% (14) and incidents classified as "other" at 11% (47).

FRC's report said the 28 gun-related incidents in 2024 were more than double those identified in 2023 (12), with the severity ranging from threats to the actual discharging of a weapon.

It highlighted two incidents in particular.

In late January 2024, then-22-year-old Debari Charvel Augustine was arrested for shooting out several windows at St. Augustine Catholic Church in San Francisco. Although two elderly parishioners were inside at the time, there were no injuries, and Augustine was later remanded for mental health diversion.

A woman armed with an AR-style semiautomatic rifle entered the 16,000-seat Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, during Sunday services last February and opened fire, injuring two. The shooter, Genesse Ivonne Moreno -- who had obtained her gun legally and was being treated for mental illness -- was killed after being confronted by two off-duty officers.

Motives for attacks on churches "are not always apparent," said FRC in its report. However, the nonprofit's research indicated that incidents spurred by pro-abortion sentiments "dropped significantly, with cases falling from "59 in 2022 and 11 in 2023 to just two in 2024."

Satanic incidents also declined, from 12 in 2023 down to just one in 2024.

FRC also said, "Anti-LGBT incidents decreased as well, although they remained high at 33 in 2024 (compared to 42 in 2023)." It noted that many incidents occurred at LGBT-supportive churches and often took the form of stealing pride flags.

According to the FBI's recently released crime statistics, just over 24% of the 12,093 hate crimes in 2024 were motivated by religious bias.

Of those 2,942 reported hate crimes, 69% were anti-Jewish; 8.7% were anti-Islamic; 4.9% were anti-Sikh; 3.9% were anti-Other Religion; 2.5% were anti-Other Christian; and 1.9% were anti-Catholic.