Desecration - CathNews New Zealand

Vatican prayer service follows naked man's desecration of St Peter's altar

Juliet Palmer — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 06:06:17 +0000

A prayer service in the form of a purification rite was performed at St. Peter's Basilica after a man desecrated the main altar.

Startled witnesses, on Friday, New Zealand time, say the man stripped off his clothes, leapt onto the high altar in the centre of the church, and stood naked apart from his shoes and socks.

Photographs of the man show that he had a message reading "Save children of Ukraine" written in black ink on his back.

He is also reported to have self-inflicted cuts on his body from his fingernails.

The unnamed 34-year-old man of Russian-Polish origin is described as suffering from severe depression and various mental disorders.

Once aware of the protest, the Vatican gendarmerie rushed to force the man to return his clothes and come down from the consecrated altar.

The Italian police then took him in for questioning.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti performed the purification service, which took the form of a prayer, a blessing with water and incense.

Canon Law requires a prayer service.

Gambetti described the man's actions as "sinful," labelling them as "inappropriate" and a "truly regrettable gesture" in bringing attention to the victims of the Ukraine-Russia war.

Vatican concern

Recently, the issue of returning Ukrainian children deported to Russia has been a hot topic for the Vatican.

Pope Francis often speaks of the Holy See's willingness to help. He was asked to do just that by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to the Vatican last month.

The Holy See is also concerned about the effectiveness of security in the tiny Vatican state.

It is particularly disturbed that the man had time to completely undress and climb onto the altar unnoticed before the alarm was finally sounded.

Last Thursday's incident marks the latest in a series of recent security breaches.

Two weeks ago, a man found to be mentally ill was arrested after ramming his car into the St Anne's entrance gate to the Vatican and driving through the small city-state.

Last August, climate activists entered the Vatican Museums and glued their hands to the base of the famed "Laocoön and His Sons" statue. The first-century sculpture is considered one of the most important ancient works in the Vatican.

The activists also hung a banner reading, "Last Generation: No gas and no carbon".

And in 2019, another man described as "psychologically disturbed" was arrested by Vatican gendarmes for climbing onto the main altar in St Peter's Basilica and tossing a candelabra onto the floor

Source

Vatican prayer service follows naked man's desecration of St Peter's altar

Blessed Sacrament found Intact in tabernacle of burned down Church

denisohagan — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 06:59:32 +0000

In the aftermath of the fire that gutted a church in Cameroon, Bishop Aloysius Fondong of the Diocese of Mamfé entered the ruins to retrieve the Blessed Sacrament and found the sacred Hosts and the ciborium containing them to be intact.

In a video released on 21 September by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Fondong is seen entering the burned-out church and making his way through the rubble Read more

Blessed Sacrament found Intact in tabernacle of burned down Church

New Orleons archbishop orders church burning of church altar

Juliet Palmer — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 04:50:21 +0000

A New Orleons archbishop ordered the desecrated altar of a church to be burned.

The Catholic church in Pearl River, Louisiana, burned the altar where its former pastor was caught having sex with two women.

"His behavior was obscene, his desecration of the altar is demonic," said Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, who consecrated a new altar at the church Sunday, WVUE reports.

The former pastor at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Travis Clark, has been removed from ministry and is no longer on the diocese payroll, WDSU reported. Read more

New Orleons archbishop orders church burning of church altar

Artist who stole and sold consecrated Hosts for exhibit charges dismissed

Juliet Palmer — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 16:05:22 +0000

An artist who stole and sold consecrated Hosts for an exhibit has had the charges against him dismissed.

The Spanish court ruled the theft did not disrespect the Catholic faith.

The artist, Abel Azcona stole more than 240 consecrated hosts from Masses, taking them by hand and keeping them.

He then arranged them on the floor to spell out the word "pederastia" (Spanish for sex between a man and a boy).

He posted photos of the Hosts and himself in the nude on his Twitter page.

This is the Spanish word for "pederasty," - sex between a man and a boy.

In November 2015, he exhibited the photos in an art display in a city-owned exhibition hall available for public use.

Afterwards he sold the consecrated Hosts for over US$268,000.

A spokesman for the Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers Azcona's work was "an offense against religious sentiments and desecration."

The judge thought differently, however.

In his opinion, the consecrated Hosts are not meaningful to Catholics.

Rather, he described them as "white and round objects of small dimensions."
He said there was no lack of respect.

He ruled "lack of respect should not be confused with not doing what the Catholic Church requires its faithful to do with the consecrated hosts in the act of Communion."

The Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers said it will file an appeal.

Source

Artist who stole and sold consecrated Hosts for exhibit charges dismissed

Vandals desecrate statue of Mary

admin — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:05:01 +0000

A statue of the Virgin Mary has been smashed in an act of vandalism.

Church staff noticed the shattered shell in its grotto behind the church building in Maxwell Rd yesterday after the Queen's Birthday Weekend.

Vandals desecrate statue of Mary