Young idiots conducted their own version of the cowardly “knockout” game on a Catholic church in Brighton (Boston), Mass.
From CBS Boston:
Vandals Trash Brighton Church, Destroy Painting Of Pope
BOSTON (CBS) — Police are searching for answers after a Brighton church was vandalized by three teenagers.
Police say sometime between 3 p.m. on November 23 and 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 25, the teens damaged three doors and broke into Our Lady Of Presentation Church on Washington Street.
Residue from two fire extinguishers was found all over the church floors. A portrait of Pope John XXIII was found on the second floor, cut up and defaced with phrases such as “Devil’s Star,” “(Expletive) God” and “Scooby Doo.” [I’ll bet they were misspelled.]
The church organ was destroyed and a gold crucifix was removed from the altar and placed near the front entrance.
An alarm transmitter and a window were also damaged.
Officers found a bag of Tostito chips, a container of Pringles, a bottle of Sprite, a water bottle, and a half empty bottle of Italian wine at the scene.
St. John’s Seminary owns the church and uses the building as a lecture hall and rectory.
[…]
When they are caught, perhaps they should be made to clean up the mess, reimburse the diocese for the repairs through hours of hard, physical labor for which their pay will be garnished, and then – when all is paid for and cleaned up – spend time in the equivalence of the public stocks.
Just an idea.
In the meantime, we will see a lot more of this.
As the Church becomes less clear in her identity in the public square, the attacks will mount. Soon local and federal officials will start turning a blind eye. Then there will be draconian crack-downs on clergy and religious for any slight or imagined infraction of “hate-speech” laws.
You know the rest.
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Strange that they just moved the GOLD crucifix, and didn’t steal it outright, no?
I’m going to disagree with your conclusion. In the last 20 or 30 years the Church in America has grown more, not less, clear in her identity, especially with regards to the hierarchy. And I think it is that which causes the broader culture to react in sometimes hostile ways. The Church won’t get with the program and so she sticks out like a sore thumb.
For the first time in a long time, Catholics are talking about what makes them unique rather than seamlessly trying to fit into the cultural mold of the nation. I by no means desire a return to the insularity of the ghetto, bit it is a good thing that Catholics are privileging their Catholicism over other available identity markers.
What kind of evil has gotten into the hearts of someone who would do such a thing?!
Father, did you meant to say “more clear in her identity”?
I meant to say “mean”.
Notice how the mention the wine was Italian? Once again MY peeps (la mia gente) are going to get nailed for something we didn’t do. The REAL perps left the wine there to divert suspicion and took their Guinness with them!
It looked like two teenaged girls and one teenaged boy who was slight of build from the surveillance photos that have been shown. They probably weren’t able to carry the cross any further or wouldn’t have been able to carry it in public without drawing attention to themselves.
Fortunately for them, they vandalized a Catholic church. Any other faith and it would have been considered a hate crime.
The police are searching for “answers”?! Seriously, search for the perpetrators and you’ll find the answers. (I know the police are looking for who did it, but it was odd that the story focused the police search on answers.)
Churches have a long history of being targets of vandalism. It sucks, but we’d have more to worry about it seems if we weren’t being targeted.
This seems to be a case of stupid thuggery. Happily, the Eucharist was not touched and the tabernacle and altar were not defaced.
I remember a worse case three years ago. At the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, someone stole a relic of the True Cross. It was recovered in Vermont about two months later. (It took the archdiocese a week to send someone up to fetch the relic and return it. Sigh.) The story is here: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/08/relic_of_cross.html
Brighton is very densely populated, and no doubt those evil teenagers wouldn’t have driven a car to the church. It would have been quite difficult to get that cross away without being seen. Of course, they weren’t there to steal.
They weren’t too careful about getting seen on the CCTV cameras. Thank God for that. May they repent of their sacrilege, and I expect a serious punishment will be needed for them to realize what they’ve done.
They are VERY fortunate they destroyed a painting of gentle Bl. John XXIII rather than one of Bl. Pius IX or St. Pius X! ;-)
I’m so sorry to read this story. We’ve had only one instance of serious vandalism in a Catholic Church here in Alabama and that was eight years ago. The altar was overturned. Thankfully, there haven’t been any incidents since then.
http://www.catholicleague.org/decatur-disgrace/
Manual labor? It’s doubtful the perpetrators are capable of it. [Incentive could be applied and, then, practice will help in time.] Future reimbursement? Garnishing wages?? [Sure… pay them minimum wage for the hard labor and then garnish 90% of their check.] Now, that is funny. Public stocks? [I am not sure that other methods are effective. Maybe that would get their attention. I include graffiti artists, btw.] It would merely complete their criminal “rite of passage”. Call me negative, but, these punks won’t be caught.
Maybe this is a dream, but, perhaps laity can volunteer to guard their open churches at night.
This is on my mind often, as I am a scheduled Adorer twice a week at 3am. Granted, vandals would probably pick a church that didn’t have parishioners coming and going at all hours of the night. Criminals intent on more than vandalism might though, perhaps I should train to conceal carry (something other than my Rosary?)
“perhaps I should train to conceal carry.”
The carrying is not what anyone would need the training in. [Oh yes. “Carrying” is included in the training.]
Forgive me if I didn’t state it perfectly.
Very sad. Vandalism is quite hateful. I would add my sentiments that these incorrigibles must make restitution.
They will probably be caught since they left so much evidence behind.
Sigh. My parish has a sign saying “no concealed weapons allowed on premises.”
Your comment on misspellings is quite correct. In two vandalism incidents in the New York area, one had a scrawled “Satin Lives” and the other referred to “Natzis”.
You can’t make this stuff up.
This is just outright demonic. The Church can give everything the zeitgeist wants, as some naive appeasers think we should do and try to do, yet She will be still be attacked nonetheless for the sole reason of being the Bride of Christ.
Aren’t Nat Cole fans referred to as Natsies?
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