Desecration of Catholic Churches Across U.S. Leaves Congregations Shaken

More than half a dozen incidents in recent weeks include arson, decapitation of statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary




A statue of Jesus Christ at the Good Shepherd Church in Miami was decapitated on July 15

By
Francis X. RoccaUpdated July 22, 2020 7:10 pm ET

Parishioners and clergy were shocked and grieving following a spate of vandalism at Catholic churches in various U.S. cities in recent weeks.

Catholic institutions from Boston to Florida reported more than half a dozen attacks on church property, including statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, between July 10 and 16.

“We have to be very vigilant in making sure that this doesn’t get legs and continue,” said Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops committee for religious liberty, in an interview. “We have to be as vigilant as our Jewish brothers are vigilant against instances of anti-Semitism.”

The most violent incident was at Queen of Peace Church in Ocala, Fla., about 75 miles northwest of Orlando. Police say a man set fire to the church on July 11 while several parishioners were inside preparing for morning Mass.

“This white van came towards me, did a U-turn, jumped the pavement and crashed into, broke into the two front doors of the church. He’d gotten inside the narthex, put ten gallons of gasoline on the floor, set it on fire and came out. And I was face to face with him like this. And he jumped into his car and off he sped,” said the Rev. Patrick J. O’Doherty, the pastor, in a YouTube video posted on the parish website.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said police had arrested Steven Anthony Shields, 24 years old , and charged him with attempted second-degree murder and arson, among other felonies, and were holding him in the county jail without bond. An attempt to reach Mr. Shields through the sheriff’s office was unsuccessful.



A man set fire to the Queen of Peace Church in Ocala, Fla., on July 11
Father O’Doherty said that relics of several saints had survived the blaze but much of the art work had been damaged and would be replaced.

“Evil never attacks evil. The church is something very good so I take the attack on the church as a sign that we’re doing the right thing here,” he said in the YouTube video.

Four days later, a statue of Jesus was decapitated at Good Shepherd Church in Miami, following attacks on statues of the Virgin Mary in New York, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Colorado.

“Let us not speculate but rather let us work together to pray and to prevent any future vandalism or damage to our parish,” wrote the Rev. Jesus Arias, pastor of Good Shepherd, in a message appealing to parishioners for donations to improve security.

In New Haven, Conn., vandals painted anarchist and satanic symbols on the door of century-old St. Joseph’s Church during the night of July 15.

“This follows an apparent trend of desecrating Catholic spaces throughout the nation,” the Archdiocese of Hartford said in a statement. “The underlying motive of these sacrilegious attacks is clear: to intimidate and instill fear in the hearts of those who worship Christ. However, our cherished Catholic faith has survived for 2,000 years in the faces of many different oppressors, and it is not about to yield now.”

The spate of vandalism coincided with a July 11 fire that destroyed the roof and much of the interior of the nearly 250-year-old Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in Los Angeles County. The fire department said at the time that a “preliminary investigation shows no immediate sign of arson.” A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said on Wednesday that they were still awaiting results of an investigation by law enforcement into the causes of the fire.

The fire stirred up sensitivities over the legacy of California’s Spanish missions, which devotees celebrate for bringing Christianity to the region and others criticize as institutions of colonial exploitation.

Amid the demonstrations for racial justice that followed the death of George Floyd in late May, several statues of St. Junipero Serra, an 18th century Spanish missionary to California, were pulled down by protesters or removed by local authorities.

Pope Francis canonized St. Junipero during a visit to the U.S. in 2015, but critics say the missionary oppressed some of the indigenous people to whom he preached.

Archbishop Wenski said the recent toppling of statues of St. Junipero and other historic figures may have created a climate conducive to vandalism of churches. “Broken windows invite further broken windows,” he said.

Write to Francis X. Rocca at francis.rocca@wsj.com