By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
When parishioners of St. Peter Chanel Catholic Church in Roswell, Georgia arrived for Mass on Easter Sunday morning, they discovered grotesque Satanic and obscene symbols spray painted on a new statue of Jesus Christ that had just been gifted to the parish.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) is reporting that the desecration took place early Sunday morning and involved the use of pink spray paint to cover the statue’s face and hands. A pentagram was sprayed on the chest as well as pink genitalia.
The desecration was first discovered by parishioners who were coming to Mass on Easter Sunday morning.
“The first thought that came to my mind was hurt,” said Father Peter Rau, pastor of the parish. “As the day passed, to begin to see the children’s reaction — really, it hurt them, especially on Easter morning.”
Rau told the AJC the $80,000 statue, which had just been gifted to the parish by a parishioner, is “just a piece of marble, but for all who look upon it, it has a bigger significance and meaning.”
He said that when he looked closer at the desecration, he realized that “the markings, the coverings, are all trying to say that our Lord doesn’t exist, and that he’s not present. He’s indeed present despite all this.”
Meanwhile, Roswell police Detective Ken Kraus said Monday morning that investigators would be sending samples of the paint for analysis to try to determine where it came from.
“Other than that, we’re just looking for the motivations, retaliations, or somebody trying to send a signal to the Catholic church here,” he said. “We’ve got to try to look in every direction.”
Kraus believes there’s a “signal” in this, he told the AJC. “Some type of retaliation or some type of hatred toward this kind of church or religion.” Kraus said the pentagram is “typically … a satanic, demonic” symbol.
Roswell police lieutenant James McGee said they would be looking for the culprits “with zeal.”
“This is pretty low, no matter what religion you are, to desecrate something of religious value like this,” he said.
Meanwhile, parishioners are dealing with the shock of the incident in various ways. Pamela Garrett, a parishioner for the past six years, made a special trip to the church on Monday morning to place flowers at the foot of the statue.
She told the AJC her initial reaction was “horror, and compassion for the poor souls who could be so affected by such evil that they could do such a thing.”
Thankfully, workers from nearby J. J. Morley Enterprises were able to remove the paint from the statue with graffiti remover and a light solvent.
“I thought the least I could do was make this headache go away for them,” said John Morley, president of the company, adding that the parish was “very appreciative.”
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Photo of the statue, with the pentagram and genitalia markings covered, is by John Spink of The Atlanta Journal Constitution
