{"id":78276,"date":"2025-11-13T08:01:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/?p=78276"},"modified":"2025-11-13T08:50:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:50:40","slug":"church-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/church-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Church Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Statue<\/p>\n

The London\u00a0Mail<\/em> reports, “A rainbow flag-waving man is wanted for allegedly vandalizing churches across\u00a0New York City\u00a0with\u00a0‘anti-Christian’ messaging.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“The vandal, who draped himself in an LGBTQ pride flag, is accused of spray painting hateful messages on three churches in Queens last month.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Surveillance cameras captured the suspect, whose face was covered by a rainbow mask, writing ‘cult’ and ‘anti-gay cult’ on the church exteriors.”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s part of a disconcerting<\/span>\u2014or is the word “alarming”? –trend.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This year, dozens of churches or religious sites in the U.S. have been vandalized or otherwise, and sometimes severely, harmed.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

At least 404 incidents have occurred across 43 states and the District of Columbia since May 2020, our bishops report.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Incidents include arson, statues beheaded, limbs cut, smashed, and painted, gravestones defaced with swastikas and anti-Catholic language and American flags next to them burned, and other destruction and vandalism. A list is at the bottom. It excludes incidents where circumstances suggest a motive other than hostility toward the Church.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Just this week,<\/span> a church in downtown Lourdes, France, was similarly defaced.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This was at the Sacred Heart Church, defaced with anti-Catholic graffiti, months after a restoration project.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Altar<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

We don\u2019t need to sensationalize. But Scripture itself warns: \u201cThe dragon was enraged at the woman\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In times of confusion, conflict, and cultural unraveling, the enemy often lashes out at the visible symbols of God\u2019s Presence.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Forces are gathering. Some of it is Muslim. Some of it is driven by homosexuality. Some of it is simple secular resistance to the sacred. All told, it recalls the desecration during the French Revolution.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As\u00a0The Pillar <\/a><\/span><\/em>reports, France’s Ministry of the Interior “reported 857<\/a><\/span> anti-Christian acts in 2021, 923 incidents in 2022, and 854 in 2023.”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

At the Vatican itself,<\/span> a crazed man urinated on an altar.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is something you\u2019d never want to believe\u2014something almost unthinkable in a supposedly \u201cmodern,\u201d supposedly \u201ccivilized\u201d world: a quiet but persistent assault on the sacred. Not in one place. Not in one troubled neighborhood. But across entire nations, continents, cultures.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A shadow. A pattern. A rising one.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

From France to Canada, from the U.S. to Latin America, from Ireland to India\u2014the signs are unmistakable. Church vandalism, once sporadic, is now disturbingly common. Statues smashed. Tabernacles stolen. Hosts desecrated. Fires set. Crosses toppled. Graffiti sprayed across the very walls where generations prayed.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Italian media reported<\/a><\/span> August 24 that human excrement was smeared near the entrance of Sant\u2019Antonio al Seggio church in Aversa, Italy.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

On Aug. 25, vandals damaged<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>gravestones at the Church of Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Cuthbert, in Bedford, England, for the second time in a month.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Multiple other incidents of vandalism have occurred at churches or shrines named “Our Lady of Lourdes” in various countries. Montclair, California: In March 2019, two outdoor statues of the Virgin Mary and St. Bernadette at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church were destroyed with a hammer. Overbrook, Philadelphia:\u00a0In January 2024, a nativity scene at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church was vandalized, with St. Joseph’s head, an angel’s wing, and Our Lady’s hands broken off<\/span>. <\/span>Ledyard, Connecticut: In March 2023, a man broke into Our Lady of Lourdes Church, broke windows, and wrote on the walls; the FBI Civil Rights Unit and the Connecticut State Police Hate Crimes Unit assisted in the investigation. Sudbury, Canada:\u00a0In July 2020, statues at the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto were vandalized, with heads and hands broken off. They were replaced two years later with new bronze statues.<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
\"Arson<\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
Want more?<\/span> Marsa, Malta: In July 2022, a devotional statue of Our Lady of Lourdes was targeted by vandals, resulting in the destruction of the head of the figure of St. Bernadette Soubirous. Duck Lake, Canada:\u00a0In January 2024, a statue of Mary at the Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine had both hands snapped off.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
Where and how will it end?<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
There is that rising tide.<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
There is that rising shadow.<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
But there is also a surprising rise of Christian evangelism among the young (see Charlie Kirk) and in those same younger quarters, Catholicism (on the increase even in stony Anglican England).+<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
But always\u2014always\u2014the sacred rises again. Candles are relit. Altars restored. Walls repainted. Statues repaired or replaced. And faith, once tested, often burns brighter than before.<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
+<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

In some places, the very acts of vandalism have stirred renewed devotion.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

+<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

[A list<\/a><\/span>]<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The London\u00a0Mail reports, “A rainbow flag-waving man is wanted for allegedly vandalizing churches across\u00a0New York City\u00a0with\u00a0‘anti-Christian’ messaging. “The vandal, who.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-78276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-church","7":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}