By Paula Katinas and Jessica Easthope
A vandal hit St. Rita Church in Long Island City again, spray painting a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, completely covering the face, and writing the word “pagan” on the sidewalk on the morning of March 21, the pastor said.
Father Felix Sanchez told The Tablet that the vandalism was discovered by parishioners who arrived at the church for the regularly scheduled 8 a.m. Mass.
The vandal also spray painted an arrow leading from the word “pagan” and up the pedestal of the statue. Half of St. Francis of Assisi’s body is covered in blue paint.
The incident shocked and saddened parishioners, Father Sanchez said. “We do not feel particularly afraid. But I don’t know why people think they can vandalize a Catholic church and nothing happens to them,” he added.
St. Rita Church is equipped with security cameras, which captured images of a man who appears to be in his 20s committing the act of vandalism, according to Father Sanchez, who said the video recorded the incident as having taken place at 6:30 a.m.
The face of the vandal cannot be clearly seen in the video, Father Sanchez added.
The statue of St. Francis of Assisi is popular with parishioners. “It’s where we do our blessing of the animals every year,” Father Sanchez said.
The March 21 incident marked the third time in two years that St. Rita Church has been targeted.
On Feb. 9, 2024, a vandal threw a construction cone at a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary outside the church, missing the statue but smashing a 60-year-old stained-glass window, police said. A prayer group was inside the church at the time, but no one was injured.
And earlier this month, a man entered the church while parishioners were serving coffee at the entrance, took a coffee, and then walked over to a statue of St. Jude and punched it, Father Sanchez said.
The vandalized statue of St. Francis of Assisi will be cleaned, Father Sanchez said. But he expressed frustration at his church being repeatedly targeted. “We are tired of this. It has to stop,” he said.