Statue of the Virgin Mary desecrated for the second time outside Catholic church in Dorchester
Statue of The Blessed Virgin Mary at Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Dorchester on July 16. (Paul McGrath)
Outside the St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Dorchester, a statue of the Virgin Mary had a garbage container put over the top of the statue.
This is the second time the statue has been targeted at the St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish. The first time was overnight on July 11, according to C.J. Doyle, the Executive Director of the Catholic League of Massachusetts.
“I think that’s really a very deliberate, calculated and mean spirited and sacrilegious expression of contempt for Our Lady, for the Catholic faith and frankly for the Catholics in Boston,” said Doyle.
Dorchester resident, Paul McGrath, was the first to notify the parish priest on both occasions.
This is the second church to be targeted in Dorchester after a statue of the Virgin Mary at nearby St. Peter’s Parish was burned after plastic flowers she was holding was set on fire.
“Officers spoke with members of Boston Fire Department Fire Investigation Unit who stated that an unknown suspect had set fire to plastic flowers, which were in the hands of the statue, causing the face and upper body of the statue to be burned,” said Boston police on July 12.
According to statistics compiled by the Catholic Action League, there have now been at least nineteen attacks against Catholic churches in Massachusetts since 2016.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that these crimes can no longer be treated as a collection of random incidents perpetrated in isolation by disturbed individuals,” said Doyle. “The number, timing and frequency of these attacks strongly suggest that Catholic churches and religious iconography are being deliberately targeted for culturecide by the same left-wing extremists who are committing mayhem against public monuments across the country.”
Since July 10, there have been multiple vandalism on Catholic churches and statues in New Haven, Conn. and Ocala, Florida. Statues have been burned, defaced, or decapitated in Boston, Chattanooga, Queens in New York, West Kendall in Florida and Whitefish Mountain in Montana.
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