| Another Catholic church has been vandalized in the City of Boston. During the evening of Saturday, April 22nd, Saint Ambrose Parish in Dorchester was the target of vandals.
The church, the rectory and a priest’s car were spray painted. Two hooded figures were observed on a security camera video painting the word ‘sex’ on the side of the church.
Boston Police are investigating the incident.
This is the second time in nine months that Saint Ambrose has been the object of vandalism. During the overnight period of July 27-28, 2022, a rope on the church flagpole was cut and the Papal flag was brought down and stolen. No arrests were ever made.
The current incident came just six days after Faith Lutheran Church in Cambridge was burned in a fire which the FBI is describing as arson.
According to statistics compiled by the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, the spray painting of Saint Ambrose was the forty second incident of anti-Catholic vandalism in the Commonwealth since March of 2019.
No public statement on the vandalism has been released by the Archdiocese of Boston or by city officials.
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: “A decade ago, there were between one and five such incidents per year in the Bay State. We are now averaging more than ten such attacks on Catholic churches and religious iconography in the state each year, an increase of more than 100%.”
“The time is long overdue for the Archdiocese of Boston to condemn these incidents, to begin documenting and publicizing them, and to demand that elected officials, prosecutors and police departments respond vigorously to this escalation in hate crimes against the Catholic community.”
“There has been one encouraging development in western Massachusetts. On April 3rd, Michael Innis, 54, of Pittsfield, pleaded guilty in Berkshire Superior Court to one count of Burn Building and Destruction of Place of Worship, in connection with a 2021 arson attempt against a Catholic church.”
“On August 4, 2021, Innis and his co-defendant, Brock Randolph, were discovered setting fire to the doors of Saint Joseph’s Parish Church in Pittsfield. The arson fire caused $10,000 in damage to the church.”
“Innis was sentenced to two and one half to three and one half years in state prison. The case against Randolph is pending.”
“In the vast majority of Catholic church vandalisms in Massachusetts however, the crimes have gone unsolved and unpunished. That needs to change.” |
