Antisemitism, move over. Islamophobia too. The trend in the racist phony democracy of the US is anti-Catholicism now.
Whether it is MAGA evangelical protestants (who hate Catholics and the Pope on account of his feud with the demented moron Trump), or Zionist Jews who also do not like the Catholic Church's position on the Zionist rape of Palestine, or, the least likely culprits the Muslims, there has been a spate of attacks against Catholic churches and institutions across the US.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) is investigating the destruction of a Virgin Mary statue outside St. Rita Roman Catholic Church in Long Island City as a possible hate crime after a man climbed over a fence and repeatedly smashed it down using a hammer.
In surveillance video released by the Diocese of Brooklyn, the masked man violently hits the statue outside the church in what Catholic officials say is the latest in a string of attacks targeting the parish.
In a press release, church officials said it is the fourth reported vandalism incident targeting the parish since 2024, and the New York City Police Department is investigating the latest vandalism as a possible hate crime.
According to the Diocese of Brooklyn, the incident happened at around 1:42 a.m. Aug. 1.
The video shows the man, who is wearing a dark T-shirt and shorts, climb over the fence into a courtyard where a statue of the Blessed Mother stood.
The suspect removes a hammer from his pocket and repeatedly strikes the statue before knocking it off its pedestal. He then climbs back over the fence and walks away.
The Diocese said in a statement the attack was the fourth vandalism incident at St. Rita Roman Catholic Church since 2024.
Past acts of vandalism at the parish include the destruction of a 60-year-old stained-glass window and graffiti that defaced a statue of St. Francis of Assisi and the sidewalk.
There was also damage done to a statue of St. Jude inside the church.
The Diocese of Brooklyn told Fox News Digital no arrests had been made.
"This week, the NYPD also issued a crime stats update and hate crimes are up by 9.4% over the same 7-month period (Jan-July) of last year," John Quaglione, deputy press secretary for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn said.
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A woman was arrested after allegedly decapitating a statue of Jesus outside a Long Island Catholic church, police said.
Deyonna Subert, 41, who police described as "undomiciled," was charged with second-degree criminal mischief in connection with damage to a Sacred Heart of Jesus statue at St. Mary’s Church in East Islip, according to Suffolk County Police.
According to AI, the last name Subert is of German-Jewish origin.
Police said the statue at the church, located at 118 East Main St., was damaged on May 15 at approximately 11:15 p.m.
"After an investigation by Hate Crimes Unit detectives, Deyonna Subert was arrested outside of 221 West Main Street in Bay Shore at 6:39 a.m.," Suffolk County Police said in a press release Wednesday.
The severed head of a Sacred Heart of Jesus statue is shown outside St. Mary’s Church in East Islip, N.Y., after the statue was vandalized. (News 12 Long Island)
Churchgoers discovered the statue’s head missing Sunday morning as parishioners gathered for services and First Communion celebrations, according to News12 Long Island video from the scene.
"Across the way into the auditorium, we had first communions and this is where the kids come and they take their picture," St. Mary’s pastor Father Anthony Iaconis told News12.
Father Anthony Iaconis holds the severed head of a Sacred Heart of Jesus statue outside St. Mary’s Church in East Islip, N.Y., after the statue was vandalized. (News 12 Long Island)
Iaconis said he later found the statue’s head in nearby bushes.
"I think everyone would be upset by it," longtime parishioner Regina Vavricka told the outlet.
"Whether you belong to this parish or not, or whether you’re Catholic or Jewish, it doesn’t really matter."
The church’s pastor said donations had already begun coming in to help repair the statue, which was expected to be fixed within days.
"Yeah, it’s a terrible thing," Iaconis said. "I just ask people to pray for the person who did this. It’s not right, but we can still pray for them."
Detectives from the department’s Hate Crimes Unit investigated the incident.
"A criminal charge is an accusation," Suffolk County Police said in the release. "A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty."
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A faculty member is opening up after his California Catholic school was ransacked over the weekend, calling the break-in "more than material" for the religious community.
The Justice Department has announced an investigation into the vandalism at Holy Innocents Catholic School in Long Beach, California. Tony Tripp, the school’s director of advancement, described the damage as extensive and said the vandals ransacked nearly every room.
"They pretty much went through the whole place — didn’t matter where it was throughout there — and ransacked whatever they could," Tripp said Thursday.
Vandalized furniture and religious objects, including a statue of the Virgin Mary, inside Holy Innocents Catholic School in Long Beach, Calif. (KTTV)
Video shows classrooms torn apart, broken furniture and a large Virgin Mary statue destroyed. The parish’s tabernacle, a sacred object to Catholics, was also damaged.
The damage from the break-in is estimated at $100,000. But Tripp said the value of many of the objects goes beyond material loss and that the damage was sacrilegious.
"This is a center of our faith, especially the tabernacle; that's the biggest thing for us," Tripp said, adding that the vandals were trying to break the religious object open.
Tripp said the school is calling on those responsible to turn themselves in. He speculated that multiple people may be involved and that the motive could be robbery or anti-religious.
Church members are calling on those responsible for the vandalism to turn themselves in and make reparations. (KTTV)
"Not sure what the motivation was, but I do know that we want them to obviously make reparation and change what they've done," said Tripp.
He noted that, despite the pain over the damage, the Catholic community has shown the school support, adding, "We’ve never expected anything like this."
"It's given us tremendous hope, you know, that people still have faith and believe in God and are willing to stand up for their faith."
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon posted about the situation on X, writing that the agency will be opening up an investigation into the "awful crime."
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According to a report from the United States Conference for Catholic Bishops, there have been at least 366 attacks on Catholic Churches in the United States across 43 states and the District of Columbia since May 2020. This is by far higher than attacks against Muslim or Jewish places of worship.
These attacks include "arson, statues beheaded, limbs cut, smashed, and painted, gravestones defaced with swastikas and anti-Catholic language and American flags next to them burned, and other destruction and vandalism," according to the USCCB.
Valentine, the director of the Catholic Accountability Project at CatholicVote, which is also tracking attacks on Catholic churches, said that they have documented 484 attacks since May 2020.
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