Diocesan News

Vandal Targets Guardian Angel Church After Roe v. Wade Ruling

The vandal or vandals left this message on the exterior wall near the church’s entrance. (Photo: Diocese of Brooklyn)

By The Tablet Staff

BRIGHTON BEACH — Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a church in the Diocese of Brooklyn was targeted with graffiti.

Graffiti was found scrawled in chalk on the brick walls outside Guardian Angel Church at 2978 Ocean Parkway in Brighton Beach on Friday, June 24.

The vandal or vandals wrote such phrases as “Pro Choice” and “Seperation (sic) Btwn Church + State” on the walls. In addition, the words “Keep Yu (sic) Laws Off My Body” were discovered on a walkway outside the church.

Also discovered at the time was a small section of the white picket fence surrounding the nearby garden that was knocked over.

Father Sergiy Emanuel, the parish administrator, discovered the graffiti at approximately 4 p.m. when he returned to the church from a dental appointment. “I was shocked to see it,” he said, adding that he immediately called the police.

The graffiti was removed a short time later. On Sunday, Father Emanuel spoke about the incident at Masses. “The parishioners felt terrible. And the police were there on Sunday too, to make sure everything was okay,” he said.

The incident took place as pro-abortion demonstrators took to the streets in New York and in cities across the nation to protest the High Court’s ruling.