rishard.khan@guardian.co.tt
Members of the Roman Catholic faith are said to be still traumatised by Saturday’s desecration of the St Francis RC Church’s Pastoral Centre in Belmont.
Two men vandalised and damaged religious statues and the centre’s outer windows and doors during an unwarranted attack on Saturday.
Despite this, members of the congregation cancelled only the Saturday evening mass which was scheduled to be held shortly after the attack and still held the two scheduled services yesterday.
On Saturday afternoon, the two men, dressed in colourful wear which looked like clothes worn by that of another religious body in the country, allegedly entered the premises around 4 o’clock, as some early arriving parishioners had already gathered for 5 pm mass and began inflicting damage to property.
Footage from a security camera shows both men walking into the church’s car park. One man, dressed in yellow and carrying a coloured flag, appeared to attack a statue of the Virgin Mary with the flag shortly before rejoining the other man, who was dressed in red and appeared to be praying over the compound. The man with the flag also subsequently threw out a statue of St Bernadette, also from the grotto area where the statue of the Virgin Mary was, and broke several windows and the door to the centre.
According to a Catholic TT news report, witnesses said the man carrying the flagpole was speaking incoherently as he moved about the churchyard. After leaving, the men reportedly damaged cars parked in the vicinity of the church. The report said, “Six windows and the glass panel door of the main entrance, a statue of St Bernadette, and Mary located in the grotto were damaged.”
Contacted yesterday, Acting Archbishop Esau Joseph told Guardian Media the Catholic Church “totally” condemned the desecration.
“They shouldn’t really vandalise any place of worship. That’s total disrespect to God and the person’s faith,” Monsignor Joseph said.
He said the act infringed on the constitutional right to freedom of worship.
Also contacted, Secretary of the St Francis RC Restoration Fundraising Committee, Linda Stephen, told Guardian Media the damage was estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. She noted that the majority of the damage was inflicted on the pastoral centre, a smaller building used for service while the church is being restored.
Stephen said the trauma extended to the entire parish, especially those who were present during the incident.
“The parishioners are a little shaken but they are sort of binding together and supporting one another through it. It’s important for me to say they are also praying for the perpetrators and praying for forgiveness (from God) for them and praying for strength for themselves to carry on,” she said.
One parishioner, who did not want to be identified, yesterday described the incident to Guardian Media as “madness,” noting it had completely traumatised her.
Despite Saturday’s incident, service was held yesterday after parishioners cleaned up the damage once police has concluded gathering their evidence.
In December, the church launched a funding drive to raise money to restore the church infrastructure. The church has been designated a National Heritage Site.
“The people are committed to the project of the opening of that church and that this will not deter them,” Stephen said yesterday.
Meanwhile, T&T Police Service public information officer Sheridon Hill yesterday confirmed both men were arrested after the incident. He said after interrogation, one of the men was sent to the St Ann’s Hospital immediately for observation while the other remains in police custody. He told Guardian Media the men are expected to be charged once the police have concluded evaluating the value of the damage done.
