With a California district attorney reducing the charges against five vandals who desecrated a St. Junípero Serra statue in 2020, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco fears others will now believe they can carry out similar attacks and not face serious legal punishment.
When Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco looked at the video that captured images of a mob toppling a statue of St. Junipero Serra at the Mission San Rafael in Northern California last month, he felt personal pain.
To rid the site of a toppled statue of St. Junipero Serra of evil, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone performed an exorcism rite outside St. Rafael Mission Church in San Rafael Oct. 17.
As Christians, we need to recognize that racism is probably the most absolute negation of Jesus Christ’s message of love within our society. However, the attacks against churches can’t be dismissed as mere random occurrences, as they have been portrayed in the media. Catholics, may wonder what the vandals are trying to tell you when they tear down a statue of St. Junípero or even Jesus Christ.
The fire that ravaged Mission San Gabriel Arcangel church in the predawn hours of July 11 left behind a haunting scene. In a matter of minutes, the mission’s 230-year-old roof was nearly gone.
It took 23 days for the protests that started after the killing of George Floyd to make their way to the statue of George Washington. What exactly is happening in our country?
