LONG ISLAND CITY — An act of vandalism disrupted a late-night Portuguese prayer service for a handful of faithful at St. Rita Catholic Church on Feb. 9. A traffic cone was thrown at the stained glass window, destroying a part of the church that the pastor said is worth $10,000.
The individual was caught on security footage leaving the grounds of St. Rita after walking through the side courtyard’s doors, which lead to the chapel, and returning with an orange traffic cone from the church’s parking lot. He then proceeded to throw the cone at the window.
The attack came at around 8:40 p.m. near the entrance on 11th Street. Father Jose da Silva, pastor at the parish for over a decade, heard the glass shatter from his office, looked down from his window overlooking the courtyard, and called out to the attacker who fled from the scene.
“I’m worried about people. I worry about [safety] in the house, and the church, especially during the Masses, because we have a huge congregation. This area is not safe for anybody,” Father da Silva said. There are approximately 1,000 parishioners at St. Rita.
The report is being investigated as criminal mischief, an NYPD spokesperson told The Tablet. As of Feb. 15, there are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.
Despite the individual remaining on the loose, Father da Silva is almost certain he knows who he is. Describing him as a Hispanic man appearing to be in his late 20s to early 30s, the pastor has had run-ins with an individual fitting the description dating back two years.
One of his first interactions with this man involved an altercation at the start of a Sunday Mass in 2022. During the procession, Father da Silva saw a man drinking during the celebration, and after a disturbing conversation, the police were called to the church.
Since then, Father da Silva and the church workers have seen this man in and around the parish. Just a few weeks ago, he was caught sitting in the chapel under the influence of alcohol.
“I have a feeling that when a person vandalizes a sacred place in a sacred place like a church, synagogue, or a mosque, they are giving signs to us that something very serious can happen. So we need to stop these people,” he said.
Father da Silva believes that the suspect initially planned to damage the chapel since he came into the church at such a late hour. However, around 15 to 18 individuals were praying there for a prayer service.
Next to the destroyed window is a statue of the Virgin Mary, which Father da Silva believes was the attacker’s target, but that he missed with the cone and instead hit the window.
This attack comes on the heels of a similar crime just three weeks prior, when four people were caught on surveillance video attempting to break into St. Columba Catholic Church in Marine Park.
A stained glass window was broken in the Jan. 27 attack, which is being investigated as a hate crime, and they stabbed and tried to take down a 10-foot metal cross outside.
“If you can attack the Catholic Church, what’s to stop you from attacking other religious institutions? If you have no faith, you have no regard for the faith,” Deacon Tom Gleason at St. Columba Church told Currents News.
The police are still investigating the crime at St. Rita, and Father da Silva thanks both the 114th Precinct and the Diocese of Brooklyn for their support in response to this act of vandalism.