Statistically, it is remarkably safe to attend weekly worship services. Total global annual attendance is several billion dollars; The number of people killed in attacks on individual houses of worship in any given year is usually less than a few hundred.
yet Notable fatal attacks in recent years – With synagogues in England and Pennsylvania being targeted, two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and a Catholic church in the United States hosting a mass for school children – this has exacerbated anxiety and outright fear among clergy and worshipers around the world.
Below is a list of some of the most notable attacks on houses of worship over the past 15 years.
6 December 2024: As part of a wave of anti-Semitic attacks, a synagogue in Melbourne is firebombed. The building was severely damaged and one worshiper was injured. The Australian authorities accused Iran of directing this attack.
July 27, 2025: Dozens of people were killed in Congo’s Ituri province when rebels stormed a Catholic church during a vigil and opened fire on worshipers.
Egypt Featured in November 2017 More than 300 people were killed in a horrific and horrific attack on a mosque in North Sinai frequented by Sufis, followers of a Sufi movement within Islam. At that point, Egyptian military and security forces were already waging a campaign against militants in North Sinai.
April 9, 2017: Suicide bombers carried out attacks hours apart in two Coptic churches in northern Egypt, killing more than 40 people and turning Palm Sunday services into scenes of terror and rage. The Islamic State claimed responsibility and vowed to continue attacks against Christians.
October 2, 2025: An attack on a synagogue in Manchester, England, by a knife-wielding assailant, killing two members of the congregation. According to the police, the operation was carried out by a man who pledged allegiance to ISIS.
June 19, 2017: A man drove a pickup truck toward pedestrians near a mosque in London as worshipers were leaving after prayers. One man died. Dozens of others were injured. He was the attacker convicted To a minimum of 43 years in prison. One judge said he was radicalized by far-right and anti-Islamic propaganda online.
October 29, 2020: Three people were killed in a stabbing attack in a Catholic cathedral in the city of Nice on the French Riviera. A Tunisian man accused of the attack was later sentenced to life in prison without parole, the harshest possible sentence in France.
July 26, 2016: Two attackers slaughtered an 85-year-old priest after he attacked a mass. In the Catholic Church in Normandy. The police killed the attackers as they were leaving the church. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
October 9, 2019: A right-wing extremist attempted to storm a synagogue in Halle on Yom Kippur while the attack was broadcast live on a popular gaming website. After failing to open the building’s heavy doors, he shot and killed a woman in the street and a man in a nearby kebab shop. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
March 9, 2023: A former member of Jehovah’s Witnesses opened fire during a mass in the Witness Hall in Hamburg, killing six people and then himself. Nine other people were injured, including a pregnant woman. Investigators said the gunman’s earlier exit from Jehovah’s Witnesses “appeared not to be on good terms.”
October 18, 2023: Attackers threw two Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in Berlin. Molotov cocktails exploded on the sidewalk next to the building, and two people who had approached the synagogue fled with their faces covered. The arson attempt shortly after Hamas’ attack on Israel drew strong condemnation.
March 15, 2019: White supremacist They opened fire on the worshipers In two mosques in Christchurch during Friday prayers, killing 51 people. The attacks prompted new laws banning a range of semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. It also led to global changes in social media protocols after the gunman live-streamed his attack on Facebook. The assailant was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, the first time the maximum sentence available in New Zealand has been imposed.
August 10, 2019: Norwegian white nationalist Philipp Manshaus killed his Chinese-born sister and then drove his car to a mosque in an Oslo suburb where three men were preparing for Eid al-Adha celebrations. He fired shots at the glass door of the mosque before one of the men overpowered him.
June 22, 2025: State media reported that a suicide bomber opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church near Damascus filled with worshipers, killing more than 20 people and wounding dozens.
September 29, 2025: A former Marine crashed a pickup truck into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. church in michigan, He opened fire and set fire to the building during a crowded Sunday mass and was then shot and killed by police. Four people were killed and eight injured.
August 27, 2025: Two children were killed and several others were injured in an accident shooting During Mass at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis. The shooter, who authorities say died from a gunshot wound, was a former student at the parish school.
October 27, 2018: Eleven Jews attend a church service Tree of Life Synagogue In Pittsburgh, they were shot and killed by a white supremacist with a history of anti-Semitism. Gunman Robert Bowers faces execution after being convicted on multiple federal charges.
November 5, 2017: It is believed that a family dispute prompted… The deadliest mass shooting In modern Texas history. 25 people, including a pregnant woman, were killed at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs.
June 17, 2015: A young man walked into a Bible study session at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and Nine people were killed. Among the victims was Senior Reverend Clementa Pinckney. The shooter was a white supremacist. He is on death row after being convicted on multiple federal charges.
August 5, 2012: Six people in Sikh Temple in Wisconsin In the town of Oak Creek, they were shot and killed by a 41-year-old white man, who had discussed the racial holy war. One of the injured victims died in 2020 from his head injuries, becoming the seventh fatality.
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