An Alaskan Catholic church has been vandalized with penises for the second time in six months.
The most recent graffiti attack on St. Andrew Catholic Church in Eagle River happened on the night before Thanksgiving.
The vandal, or vandals, painted nine large phallic symbols across the front of the church.
The images are nearly identical to the vandalism that happened at the church in May, during which the vandal also scattered nails throughout the parking lot.
The Alaska Watchman reports, “That initial vandalism occurred one day after the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft opinion was leaked, indicating that it was about to overturn Roe v. Wade. It was also the night before the parish hosted a widely publicized talk on gender identity by conservative Catholic author and speaker Jason Evert.”
The church’s pastor told the Watchman that he wants the public to know what is happening — because it is not an isolated incident and other churches are also being targeted.
“Being hit twice in about six months, and seeing what’s happening around the country – it’s the same thing – I think people need to become aware of it,” said St. Andrew pastor Father Arthur Roraff. “We thought it would go away, but it isn’t. It’s continuing on.”
For the second time in six months, St. Andrew Catholic Church in Eagle River, Alaska, has suffered a vandalism attack.https://t.co/qsQDa8PVNx
— Joel Davidson (@AlaskaWatchman1) November 26, 2022
Father Roraff reported the first incident to the police, but no arrests were ever made.
“People are mad. They are frustrated and angry, but’s it is tempered,” he said. “We take seriously being Catholic, so there is a sense of charity. Obviously, the people who did this aren’t well, and so there’s sympathy, but the fact that it has happened twice, and it continues to happen around the country, and nothing seems to be changing is frustrating.”
Father Roraff continued, “Houses of worship are sacred – set apart to be treated with special care and respect. The civic peace of a pluralistic society requires that people are free to worship without fear.”
The report added, “CatholicVote, a national Catholic advocacy group, launched an interactive map earlier this year documenting attacks on Catholic churches since 2020. According to the group, there have been at least 246 attacks against U.S. Catholic churches since the start of 2020. This includes arson, which damaged or destroyed historic churches; spray-painting and graffiti of satanic messages; rocks and bricks thrown through windows; and beheaded statues.”
