Richard A. Sokerka
A few days after a violent mob tore down the statue of St. Junipero Serra in San Francisco, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone held a prayer service at the base of where the statue once stood.
“Evil has made itself present here. So we have gathered together to pray for God to ask the saints...for their intercession, above all our Blessed Mother, in an act of reparation, asking God’s mercy on us and on the whole city, that we might turn our hearts back toward him,” the archbishop said.
“An act of sacrilege occurred here. That is an act of the evil one,” he said. “We came together to say the rosary, and also the prayer of exorcism, the St. Michael Prayer, because evil is here, this is an activity of the evil one, who wants to bring down the Church, who wants to bring down all Christian believers,” he said.
What happened last month to the St. Junipero Serra statue was only the start of an unending string of acts by the evil one carried out across the country by unruly vandals attacking the Catholic Church.
In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the church of the Mission San Gabriel was destroyed by fire and is being investigated as arson.
In Boston, police are investigating an arson attack on a statue of the Virgin Mary on the grounds of St. Peter Church.
In Elmhurst, Queens, N.Y., a vandal spray-painted the word “idol” on the statue of the Virgin Mary at Cathedral Preparatory High School, from which Bishop Kevin Sweeney was graduated. The police are investigating it as a possible hate crime.
In Chattanooga, Tenn., a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary was beheaded at St. Stephen Catholic Church.
At Queen of Peace Church in Ocala, Fla., a man crashed a minivan into the church and then lit it on fire with gasoline while people were inside preparing for morning Mass.
In Miami, a statue of Jesus was beheaded.
In Colorado Springs. Colo., a statue of the Blessed Virgin at St. Mary Cathedral was smeared with red paint.
Last weekend, a satanic symbol was painted on the door of St. Mary Church in New Haven, Conn. where Father Michael McGivney, a candidate for sainthood, founded the Knights of Columbus. He began his priestly ministry there at the city’s first parish in 1877 and founded the Knights of Columbus there in 1882. According to the pastor, Dominican Father John Paul Walker, “Words and various symbols including a satanic one were painted on the outside doors of the church. I would ask everyone to pray to Our Lord in reparation for this sacrilege, and to St. Michael for protection against all the powers of hell,” the priest said.
Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said that recent attacks on Catholic statues are “attacks on Catholics and people of faith. While our faith calls us to be respectful of different perspectives, acts of vandalism are crimes against all who cherish democracy and mutual respect. With churches, statues, and religious symbols subject to vandalism and attack, we call upon elected officials and leaders at every level to defend the religious freedom of all.”
In a Facebook post, The Archdiocese of Hartford said, “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 works of the evil one will not prevail against the Church as Catholics follow in the footsteps of Jesus and respond to acts of hatred with acts of love, and pray for their enemies and for the conversion of those intent on destroying the Church.