Posted on 01/27/2022 6:34:22 PM PST by marshmallow
St. Alphonsus parish in Fresno was broken into overnight earlier this month. Both the tabernacle and a Marian shrine were vandalized.
Father Carlos Serrano, the pastor of St. Alphonsus, first discovered damage to the tabernacle the morning of Jan. 15.
“When going through the church, he saw the other damage,” Chandler Marquez, communications director for the Diocese of Fresno, told CNA.
The parish has a Marian statue behind glass, where people often come to pray. Beside the statue is a box with monetary donations for the parish made in thanksgiving. Marquez said the vandal took the box with the donations.
The Fresno police investigated the incident, and were able to recover surveillance images of the vandal. Police assessed the monetary damage to the church at $35,000.
Marquez told KMPH that “The community is devastated. To begin it's a direct attack on the most sacred part of the church but also to have the Shrine of our Blessed Mother attacked. Culturally that means so much to this community.”
Marquez added that the tabernacle's doors were damaged enough that it is being examined to determine whether it can be restored
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
Very sad.
That church is in a very rough neighborhood in Fresno.
I would pass by going out the the Chandler airport thinking that 40 years ago that area was a beautiful west side community with streets lined with palm trees.
Now that area is ghetto .
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