An Act of Desecration
By: Brittany Sweeney
Updated: October 15, 2012
Duryea, Luzerne County- A disgraceful scene at a church in Duryea, Saturday, as a worshiper walks in to find sacred statues defaced.
Parishioners at Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church were in tears Saturday as they saw their recently restored church vandalized. What was supposed to be a time of praise and worship turned into a day of devastation as vandals targeted their place of worship. Parishioner, Andrew Lentowski, says "I think the first reaction for anyone is of course anger, but it does make me sad that someone would do this."
The church doors stay open daily and sometime between 2 and 3:30 Saturday afternoon someone came with a can of black spray paint. Father Andrew Sinnott is the administrator at Holy Rosary and says, "It's a shame that there is so much vandalism around anymore that we have to start locking churches, but we have to, to keep everything safe and there are a lot of sacred vessels and stuff there that we don't want to jeopardize." This organ and two statues were the only things vandalized in the church and elementary school leaving parishioners wondering "why". Lentowski says, "I would say that you are welcome here and if you came here and saw this church, the love and the beauty that's here, you probably wouldn't do something like that." Father Sinnott adds, "and a lot of people went down and they are all heart sick because we just renovated that church basement since it flooded last year." He says an expert must be called in to restore the statues and clean the organ.
"It makes me very, very sad, but I think it's a sign of the times. We're about forgiveness and we would welcome them here," says Lentowski. A sign of the times showing that not even a church can leave the doors unlocked. Father Sinnott says, "It's a sacred place and some how we seem to be losing respect for anything that's sacred, so it's just a shame and it's a shock, ya know, people are just shocked that somebody would do this."
There are no surveillance cameras at the church and neither Father Sinnott nor the police know who defaced the property. If you know anything about this case you're asked to call polic.
Parishioners at Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church were in tears Saturday as they saw their recently restored church vandalized. What was supposed to be a time of praise and worship turned into a day of devastation as vandals targeted their place of worship. Parishioner, Andrew Lentowski, says "I think the first reaction for anyone is of course anger, but it does make me sad that someone would do this."
The church doors stay open daily and sometime between 2 and 3:30 Saturday afternoon someone came with a can of black spray paint. Father Andrew Sinnott is the administrator at Holy Rosary and says, "It's a shame that there is so much vandalism around anymore that we have to start locking churches, but we have to, to keep everything safe and there are a lot of sacred vessels and stuff there that we don't want to jeopardize." This organ and two statues were the only things vandalized in the church and elementary school leaving parishioners wondering "why". Lentowski says, "I would say that you are welcome here and if you came here and saw this church, the love and the beauty that's here, you probably wouldn't do something like that." Father Sinnott adds, "and a lot of people went down and they are all heart sick because we just renovated that church basement since it flooded last year." He says an expert must be called in to restore the statues and clean the organ.
"It makes me very, very sad, but I think it's a sign of the times. We're about forgiveness and we would welcome them here," says Lentowski. A sign of the times showing that not even a church can leave the doors unlocked. Father Sinnott says, "It's a sacred place and some how we seem to be losing respect for anything that's sacred, so it's just a shame and it's a shock, ya know, people are just shocked that somebody would do this."
There are no surveillance cameras at the church and neither Father Sinnott nor the police know who defaced the property. If you know anything about this case you're asked to call polic.
