(New York Times) A Catholic mission in Carmel, Calif., was vandalized on Sunday, with statues toppled and paint splashed on walls, tombstones and doors, just days after an 18th-century friar buried there, Junípero Serra, was canonized by Pope Francis, the police and officials at the mission said.
Employees of the Carmel Mission discovered the vandalism inside the basilica’s entrance courtyard and said it appeared to have been done early Sunday morning, the mission said in a statement posted to Facebook.
“Apparently a person or persons broke in, splattered paint and toppled down the courtyard statue of St. Serra and other historic statues on display,” the statement said. It urged readers to pray that the perpetrators “take responsibility for their actions on this sacred property and that they seek reconciliation.”
