Statue of Jesus Decapitated at Catholic Church in Florida, Archbishop Requests It Be Investigated As Hate Crime

A statue of Jesus Christ has been decapitated at a Florida church, as a wave of vandalism and arson at churches continues across the nation.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski is requesting that the vandalism be investigated as a hate crime.

The statue at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Southwest Miami-Dade was found vandalized and knocked from its pedestal on July 15.

“This incident has saddened the parish community,” Good Shepherd said in a statement. “It is too soon to arrive to any conclusion, but we have seen other churches vandalized around the country.  We totally ‘condemn’ this action. We invite our community to pray for peace.”

The police are now investigating and the church has hired an overnight security guard.

“Archbishop Thomas Wenski is requesting this investigation be considered a hate crime,” Mary Ross Agosta, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Miami told Fox News. “The statue, located outside the church, was on private and sacred property.”

This is just one of many attacks on churches, primarily Catholic, over the past week.

In Tennessee, a statue of the Virgin Mary was also decapitated. The head remains missing.

Another statue of the Virgin Mary was vandalized in Boston.

“We don’t know if this was the targeted desecration of a sacred statue and our Catholic faith, or some kind of misguided prank, but it hurts,” Jim Wogan, director of communications for the Diocese of Knoxville, said in a statement. “For whatever reason, we are living in a very chaotic time, and anger seems to be the default setting for people.”

Three churches have also burned across the nation.

A fire destroyed Faith Tabernacle Pentecostal Church in Elkmont, Alabama Friday night.

On Saturday a man drove into a church in Ocala, Florida, before lighting it on fire.

Next, a fire destroyed the roof of 249-Year-Old San Gabriel Mission Church in California.

If these attacks were happening to any other faith it would be headline news for weeks.

 

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