Breitbart is reporting on the incident which occurred sometime during the night of July 23-24 at St. Clement Catholic Church in Bowling Green, MO. As is the custom of the custom of the parish, the building is left unlocked so that parishioners can have access to the church at any hour of the day or night.
This enabled a local resident and practicing Wiccan, Linda Howard, to enter the building where she proceeded to smear feces throughout the church, including on the Bible and other sacred objects. Wine was poured on altar linens and other vestments.
The vandalism was discovered the following morning when a visiting priest began to prepare the church for the 9 a.m. Sunday Mass.
Father Bill Peckman, pastor of St. Clements, immediately called upon parishioners to respond to this heinous act of hatred and persecution with prayer and forgiveness.
“We cannot give into the anger or fear, such as an attack can muster. We cannot respond to sin with sin. We will rise above this and show not only the larger community but the attacker themselves that the fullness of God’s mercy can be found at St. Clement,” Peckman said on Facebook.
By Sunday afternoon, parishioners were scrubbing the building and changing the locks.
Meanwhile, eyewitness reports of an older model maroon and silver Dodge truck that was seen parked near the Virgin Mary statue on the church’s lawn led police to a local woman named Linda Howard.
According to the Bowling Green Times, when initially questioned, Howard admitted that she was at the church that night but only to pray and light a candle.
However, when questioned again later, she admitted to being ashamed of her actions but that she was “mad at God because of how her life turned out and her family members were so far away.”
In the course of the investigation, Howard’s apartment was searched for the keys to the church’s tabernacle and a candle that was missing from near the tabernacle.
According to the Pike County Circuit Court Clerk, Howard has been charged with a Class D felony of property damage and remains in custody awaiting arraignment. Her bond has been set for $5,000 in cash. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to five years in prison or one year in the county jail, and fined anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000.
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
