Posted on 05/08/2012 8:49:04 AM PDT by SmithL
A vandal or vandals caused widespread damage at Holy Cross Church early Sunday in what police are investigating as a possible hate crime.
The damaged items included a baptismal font brought to Mission Santa Cruz by Junipero Serra in the late 1700s, a church spokesman said...
A custodian discovered the destruction to the main church and other areas on the property about 6:50 a.m.,
...It included windows shattered by rocks and paint sprayed and poured on doors, walls, statues, a fountain area and sidewalks, Friend said. Some anti-church slogans and symbols were painted, he said.
Targets included the main church, the museum, the adjacent Siena House (a home serving pregnant women), and a garden area beside the historic chapel, said Warren Hoy, spokesman for the Diocese of Monterey.
The vandal or vandals went so far as to climb on the roof so they could spray paint on the church's bell tower, Hoy said.
Paint was a poured on statues of Junipero Serra and the blessed Virgin Mary, he said.
Those statues and the original baptismal font were in a garden area adjacent to the chapel and Mission Galeria gift shop, he said.
"They got a little bit of everything,"
..."The sad thing is a lot of stuff they damaged were cultural artifacts, so they were not just attacking the church," he said. "It's the history of it." Holy Cross has suffered vandalism before, some of it specifically aimed at the history of the Mission era.
"Holy Cross is something of a lightening rod," Hoy said. "It is the obvious famous church in Santa Cruz, so if you want to do something to the Church, with a capital C, you attack the Catholic Church, and when you do, you attack Holy Cross.
(Excerpt) Read more at contracostatimes.com ...
Won’t be a hate crime.
And we all know why.
Possibly they could figure out if this was a "hate crime," or even what the motivation was, if they took the trouble to read what those slogans and symbols said. Or even reported what they said in the news release.
If this had been a crime against some black organization or home, we could be quite sure that all the slogans and symbols would be thoroughly reported--or even invented, if necessary.
Place your bets...
My money is on Atheists or ROPers.
Gay activists or muslims would be my guess
If they would tell us what the slogans were we might know, but I would guess either atheists or gay activists or anti-”Western Civilization” types who consider the Franciscan missionaries evil because they were bringing Spanish Catholicism and cultural norms and destroying the Indians’ utopia.
Sadly either atheists or ROPers.
In Oregon, a church identified as anti gay was vandalized and a group claimed responsibility. There has been no police action and likely won’t be considering Portland’s mayor and politics. In your CA case, the historical artifacts may prompt some action but I wouldn’t count on it.
I’d add gay activists to your list but they are often the same as the anarchists.
Vampires, a bunch of Lost boys
I’m surprised Holy Cross Church was lacking security cameras and a burglar alarm system. I hope they add a security system now in order to ward off future attacks by these left-wing nut jobs.
Santa Cruz also has its merry band of Occupiers.
When I read about incidents like this, thoughts of Spain pre-civil war come to mind.
The church is alarmed, but the vandalism outside did not prompt an alarm, Hoy said.
They might need to consider motion lights, he said.
Friend said the suspect damaged a video camera on the church property also, and that investigators are working to determine if any video was captured before the damage was done.
Police are looking into the possibility of this being a hate crime, he said.
Would not surprise me as well.
What is an ROP?
Means “Religion Of Peace”, in reference to Islam.
Catholic ping!
Vandalism of Christian churches has not been a common tactic of Moslems in the United States or Europe, up to this point. Moslem attacks on Jewish sites in Europe have grown commonplace.
This type of vulgar destructiveness is the hallmark of homosexualists, atheists (those devotees of “Reason”), and anti-life fanatics ... and the same person often fits all these categories!
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