As the story below states, the acts of vandalism described therein are "not yet being treated as a hate crime" although the slurs left behind by the offenders clearly reveal their sentiment.
A 63-year-old Virgin Mary statue was one of two religious monuments vandalized outside a Catholic church in the Heights during Holy Week.
In one case, vandals also spray-painted a religious slur on church property.
The incidents, which occurred during services on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday at All Saints Catholic Church, 201 E. 10th, are being investigated by the Houston Police Department's burglary and theft unit. Police spokesman Sgt. Gabe Ortiz said it is not known whether the incidents were related. He said they are not yet being treated as a hate crime, but officers are trying to determine whether people were specifically targeted because of their religion.
Regardless, the vandalism has outraged members of the 100-year-old All Saints parish.
"Everybody is so angry," said pastoral assistant Cary Ann Nunn. "It is very hurtful."
Parishioners noticed the first incident after the 12:30 p.m. Mass on March 16. A statue dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes and displayed in a parish grotto since 1945 was pulled from its pedestal during the service. Nunn said the 4-foot-tall marble statue was knocked to the ground and likely struck with an object. Fingers and part of the face and back were missing, she said.
The grotto, which was dedicated to veterans of World War II and is closed for renovation celebrating the parish's centennial, is in the front of the church, Nunn said. Worshippers are using a parish hall in the rear.
After the vandalism, All Saints pastor Monsignor Adam McClosky had the Lourdes statue stored to await a costly restoration, Nunn said. It was replaced with a 3-foot-tall statue of the Lady of Guadalupe.
During the Easter sunrise Mass at 6:30 a.m., the Guadalupe statue was placed on its head and streaked with black paint, Nunn said.
In the Easter incident, a slur was spray-painted on a wall that is part of a handicap ramp.
"Don't let them worship idols," was painted in black. In red were painted the words, "You are warned."
Nunn said Catholics believe there is a heaven that is peopled with Mary and known saints. Catholics often pray to saints to intercede with Jesus on their behalf.
"We don't worship idols at all," said Nunn. "It is like a picture of your mother."
The story reminds me of years ago at the parish where I went though the RCIA that a new statue of St. Francis of Assisi was vandalized almost as soon as it was erected. Outside of acts of the mentally deranged, it was my first real exposure to vandalism against the Church. I wondered at the time whether it was a juvenile prank or if something else was going on. Since then I've come to know that hate can be the real inspiration for such actions.
Certainly hatred and ignorance are revealed in the spray-painted slur, but there is also something else revealed--a prevalent attitude perhaps--in the hesitation of the local authorities to see the act as a crime of hate. Hatred and violence will continue to exist for as long as they are overlooked or tolerated as being something other than what they actually are.
I'd rather 50 million statues were destroyed than were 50 million living fetuses. Abortion is a true hate crime which should be at the top of every news report.
Posted by: Carol | March 28, 2008 at 12:30 AM