San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Vandals hitting California Catholic churches
LOS ANGELES — A number of Catholic churches in California have recently reported incidents of vandalism.
In late April, a statue of Mary was splashed with black paint at St. John Vianney parish in the Sacramento County city of Rancho Cordova, according to Catholic News Agency.
A man described by CNA as a parishioner shared a photo of the vandalized statue. The statue’s face, hands and feet were splattered with black paint. A black cross was outlined on the statue’s body.
The parishioner said the paint had been cleaned off but that the chemical used left “some changes to the rock where the paint was.” He said a group of about a dozen people prayed a rosary after Mass in front of the statue.
In mid-April, three statues were vandalized outside Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Woodland, northwest of Sacramento, according to CNA.
CNA said it was provided photos showing statues of Mary, St. John and St. Mary Magdalene at the Crucifixion scene “disfigured with black spray paint covering the eyes.”
A project had been arranged to clean the statues, CNA reported.
On April 21, a man was recorded on a security camera using a sledgehammer to smash the face of a Virgin of Guadalupe mural painted on tiles at St. Elisabeth Catholic Church in Van Nuys in the Los Angeles region, according to news reports.
“This is one of our saddest moments in addition to our pandemic,” the church’s website read.
Sister Angelie Marie Inoferio told KTLA-TV she was devastated but that the parish would use the incident as a teaching moment for its schoolchildren. “We cannot judge what is really inside of him. Maybe it’s a cry for help,” Inoferio said. “For now, we are praying, hopefully that person someday will be converted and realize that what he did is wrong.”