Vandals deface pro-life display at Catholic church in Missouri

A pro-life display at a Catholic church in Missouri was vandalized with pro-abortion graffiti last week. St. Paul Catholic Church in Fenton, Missouri, erected white crosses, as well as a banner reading, “Pray to end abortion.” But someone sprayed red paint over the whole memorial.

According to Catholic News Agency (CNA), the parish held a public pro-life prayer service on October 1; less than 48 hours later, the pro-life display was vandalized. “The police came here this morning but I haven’t heard any more from them as of 3 this afternoon,” Father John Nickolai, the pastor, told CNA.

Nickolai told KMOV that the vandalism took place late Monday evening or early Tuesday morning. “The pro-life crosses and sign that the parish had put up in view of the street was vandalized with red spray paint,” he said. “Each cross was marked and the sign had the slogan ‘Pro-Life is a lie. You don’t care if people die,’ painted on it.”

“First of all, I thought how sad it is. We’re a country where we’re supposed to be religiously tolerant,” St. Louis Archdiocese Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski added. “This shows a real intolerance, particularly for people of faith, that’s going on in this country. And I think it’s a very disturbing trend and that that really needs to be addressed.”

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According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), there have been at least 285 incidents targeting Catholic churches since 2020, including “arson, statues beheaded, limbs cut, smashed, and painted, gravestones defaced with swastikas and anti-Catholic language and American flags next to them burned, and other destruction and vandalism.” The figure is in line with an overall increase in attacks and violence towards pro-life organizations since the draft opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision was leaked. FBI Director Christopher Wray has admitted that approximately 70% of abortion-related violence and threats have been directed towards the pro-life movement.

The parish has received no threats, according to Nickolai, and currently, St. Louis County Police are investigating. In the meantime, Nickolai said his plea for parishioners was to “[p]ray, fast, and make sacrifices for the conversion of hearts.”