Posted on 04/14/2009 6:12:09 AM PDT by NYer
CALIFORNIA AVE. — Santa Monica Police are investigating an alleged hate crime after officials with St. Monica Catholic Church discovered a statue of the Virgin Mary beheaded shortly before Easter services commenced.
A priest found the 55-year-old marble statue, which stands on the corner of Seventh Street and California Avenue, decapitated around 5:45 a.m. on Sunday, spotting the head on the ground just a few feet away. The top of the statue was covered with a white plastic bag before service began.
“Even though it was a sad event, it didn’t take away from the joy of Easter and celebrating Christ’s resurrection,” Jason Farmer, the church spokesman, said. “The joy was still sustained and celebrated throughout the day.”
Police have not identified any suspects.
“Anytime a church or school is targeted, we look at it as a possible hate crime,” SMPD Lt. Darrell Lowe said. “In this case, since the vandalism was of a very important figure within the Catholic religion, we’re classifying it and investigating it as a hate crime.”
Authorities said they are not sure how the head was removed, but Farmer said that the top is not detachable.
The statue, which stands at about 5.5 feet tall and is mounted on a 3.5-foot-tall pedestal, was dedicated in 1954 in memory of Monsignor N. Conneally, who was the head of the church from 1923-1949.
The statue was vandalized in 2002 when both hands were taken off. The perpetrator was never caught, Farmer said.
The statue will be repaired and restored, Farmer said. A cost estimate was not available at presstime.
“The church considers it to be sad and there are certainly questions about why this was done,” Farmer said. “But our sadness is brief, especially in the celebration of Easter.
He said the church considers the incident as a challenge to be more welcoming and caring to those who are struggling or hurting in the community.
“What has happened to the statue is an invitation for us to live out a deeper, more profound love for others,” he said.
Anyone with information is urged to contacted the SMPD at (310) 458-8419.
melodyh@smdp.com
“The Nestorian heresy is alive and well, I see.”
Whether or not that is true, I don’t think anyone here has taken a Nestorian stand. I certainly haven’t.
Peace to you, brother. I miss my dad too.
as I said above, everyone is free to believe and worship as they choose.
peace received.
& peace shared.
ty
Christ is True God and True Man and Mary is His mother. She is not mother of His human essence only, because they are of one indivisible hypostasis. Trying to divide them (hypostases) commits the Nestorian heresy.
You have described the Catholic Church.
The Emperor Constantine and Bishop Sylvester of Rome founded the Catholic Church in the Middle of the fourth century.
Ignatius of Antioch referred to the Catholic Church by name in the early second century. Christ founded Her in the first century and St. Peter was made Her first Pope.
I was referring to my quotation of your words in that post. You did not copy that quotation into your post.
Mary is the Mother of God.
Mary is a deity only in your eyes and others like you.
She is not a God, nor do we see or worship her as one.
As I said earlier, we honor her; BIG, BIG, DIFFERENCE!
It’s like talking to a brick wall Rose.
They’ll treat certain ministers like rock stars and rave about their special gifts.
They’ll wait in line for hours hoping a special person will lay hands on them and “heal” them.
But my goodness - if we ask Jesus’s own mother to pray for us - they get their panties in a knot.
“Mary is a deity only in your eyes and others like you.
She is not a God, nor do we see or worship her as one.
As I said earlier, we honor her; BIG, BIG, DIFFERENCE!”
You are deceived. I pray that God opens your eyes.
“Mary is the Mother of God.”
Not possible. Mary was born two thousand years ago, give or take a few years. God was there six thousand years ago. How do you figure?????
” She is not mother of His human essence only, because they are of one indivisible hypostasis. Trying to divide them (hypostases) commits the Nestorian heresy.”
That’s Jesuit gobbledegook. God was here thousands of years before Mary was born. She is not His mother.
“Ignatius of Antioch referred to the Catholic Church by name in the early second century. Christ founded Her in the first century and St. Peter was made Her first Pope. “
catholic church - small “c” - meaning the universal church, not the one in Rome that was founded on lies and forgeries anddefended with the subtle greasing of semantics such as you just used.
That is the Catholic Church.
“That is the Catholic Church.”
You wish.
Your version of history is 500 years old, made up out of whole cloth to placate the souls torn away from communion with His Church.
Aesop’s fable of the Sour Grapes tells the story perfectly.
It is human nature to mock what one doesn't understand.
She is not His mother.
Nestorius!
Of course she has.
Mary had been made into a deity by anti-Catholic bigots who like to lie about what the Catholic Church teaches and what Catholics believe.
Rose, from time to time you're going to meet an anti-Catholic bigot who will falsely tell you what you believe and how very very wrong it is:
You: I believe x.I have dubbed this "The Game," although since I began pointing it out, it has become more obvious and thus less common.Them: No, you don't believe x! You believe not(x), and you're very evil for doing so!
But it still happens.
“Mary had been made into a deity.
Of course she has.
Mary had been made into a deity by anti-Catholic bigots who like to lie about what the Catholic Church teaches and what Catholics believe.”
That’s exactly how Liberal Democrats think: blame somebody else.
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