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chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5876281.html
MERE VANDALISM OR HATE CRIMES?
**‘A challenge to our faith’
**Three times in recent months, statues of the Virgin Mary at All Saints Catholic Church have been defiled or destroyed
**By BILL MURPHY
**Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
In a shady grotto filled with plants, lilacs and daffodils, parishioners at All Saints Catholic Church would sometimes stop to pray and reflect before an Our Lady of Lourdes statue.
It was a tranquil scene — until Palm Sunday when the statue was knocked down and broken. Two replacement statues, both of Our Lady of Guadalupe, have since been defaced or destroyed.
The latest incident happened outside the church on East 10th in the Heights late Friday or early Saturday.
A spray-painted message left on a church sidewalk in March during the second incident — “You have been warned. Don’t worship idols.” — has parish officials worried that they are being subjected to anti-Catholic hate crimes, not mere vandalism.
“It sounds like that,” said Dan Schwieterman, All Saints director of religious education. “It may have deeper roots than vandalism. It may be a fanatic.”
Houston police view the first two incidents as hate crimes. Investigators will decide whether the latest attack was a hate crime after completing their probe, said HPD spokesman Victor Senties. Investigators, he said, don’t have any suspects.
MERE VANDALISM OR HATE CRIMES?
**‘A challenge to our faith’
**Three times in recent months, statues of the Virgin Mary at All Saints Catholic Church have been defiled or destroyed
**By BILL MURPHY
**Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
In a shady grotto filled with plants, lilacs and daffodils, parishioners at All Saints Catholic Church would sometimes stop to pray and reflect before an Our Lady of Lourdes statue.
It was a tranquil scene — until Palm Sunday when the statue was knocked down and broken. Two replacement statues, both of Our Lady of Guadalupe, have since been defaced or destroyed.
The latest incident happened outside the church on East 10th in the Heights late Friday or early Saturday.
A spray-painted message left on a church sidewalk in March during the second incident — “You have been warned. Don’t worship idols.” — has parish officials worried that they are being subjected to anti-Catholic hate crimes, not mere vandalism.
“It sounds like that,” said Dan Schwieterman, All Saints director of religious education. “It may have deeper roots than vandalism. It may be a fanatic.”
Houston police view the first two incidents as hate crimes. Investigators will decide whether the latest attack was a hate crime after completing their probe, said HPD spokesman Victor Senties. Investigators, he said, don’t have any suspects.
First time I heard about this here.Don’t recall seeing anything about this in the San Antonio Express news.