Decapitated sculpture

Catholic goes on trial in the statue of the Virgin Mary case

The statue of the Virgin Mary giving birth exhibited in Linz Cathedral in June 2024 sparked massive outrage, which culminated in an act of vandalism.

(Bild: Mariendom Linz/Kehrer)

Last summer, a 31-year-old is said to have advertised and praised a destructive attack on the controversial statue of the Virgin Mary in Linz Cathedral on social media. The Viennese man is accused of incitement to criminal acts. The Viennese Christian faces up to two years in prison.

A statue of a saint exhibited in St. Mary's Cathedral in Linz in the summer of 2024 caused quite a few believers to raise their voices. The limewood sculpture "crowning" by Tyrolean artist Esther Strauß depicted the Virgin Mary sitting on a rock with her legs spread apart, while the building was being built.

Act of vandalism
The outrage over the depiction culminated in unknown persons cutting off the head of the statue of the Virgin Mary and making it disappear on July 1, 2024. The estimated value of the artwork: 8,000 euros.

The search for the perpetrators proved difficult, as there are no witnesses or video recordings of the act of vandalism. During the investigation, a 73-year-old man from Linz and a man from Vienna (31) were targeted, but the suspicion that they had damaged the sculpture could not be substantiated.

The damage to the statue of the Virgin Mary remains unsolved. The proceedings are suspended until there are new leads in the investigation.

Ulrike Breiteneder, Sprecherin der Staatsanwaltschaft Linz

However, the Viennese will still have to answer to the court on March 21. "There is a criminal complaint against him for incitement to commit an act punishable by law," confirms Ulrike Breiteneder from the Linz public prosecutor's office.

According to the Criminal Code (§282), this also applies if someone condones an intentionally committed crime in a way that is likely to outrage the general sense of justice. This is exactly what the Viennese is accused of, and he faces up to two years in prison.

The Linz Regional Court

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

An Austrian "hero"
"He described the crime on social media such as YouTube, Telegram and Twitter as great and praised the perpetrator as an unknown Austrian hero," says Breiteneder.

However, the 31-year-old has not fully confessed to this. During his interrogations, he is said to have taken the position that he is a conservative advocate of Catholicism but did not want the statue to be damaged.