Getty The man read out loud some Arabic verses

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The 33-year-old Muslim man, whose name was not been made public, suddenly went into the church in the town of Schnaittach in the German state of Bavaria. He is said to have gone into the church saying: "I come in the name of the Prophet, to proclaim the message of Allah to the infidels." The incident happened on Wednesday and was only later made public by Pastor Wilfried Roemischer.

CEN A Muslim man went into the church in the town of Schnaittach in the German state of Bavaria

The man had initially entered the church and tried to make himself heard during the mourning speech, and later read out loud some Arabic verses, according to the pastor. Pastor Roemischer said he first tried to reason with the man by offering to have a conversation after the service. The Muslim man, who is said to have only moved to Schnaittach recently, then sat down on one of the rear church benches, from where he started to recite verses in Arabic. Roemischer said: "I suspect those were verses from the Quran." The man finally left the church after the priest asked an employee of the burial company to call the police.

He said: "The man has not used physical violence. There was also no tussle. In a mourning service, in which people take leave of a loved one, such a disturbance is a devastating situation." The Deputy Chief of the local police Benno Eichinger said that the man was later apprehended and was now being investigated for the disturbance of religious practices and a mourning ceremony. According to local media the man originates from the western Balkans and has been living in Germany for many years already. He is said to have a long criminal record which includes GBH and property crimes.

CEN Last year, a Muslim man interrupted a service in Karmel Church (pictured)

Eichinger said: "Some of those have been committed quite a while ago." There are no indications yet that the man belongs to extremist groups. It was not the first incident in Germany in which a Muslim disrupted a delicate church service. In October in the Western German city of Duisburg, two newlyweds complained that their wedding day was ruined when a man burst inside the church shouting "Allahu Akbar" and then started tearing down wedding decorations.