Florida Catholic church rebuilding after arson attack

July 27, 2020 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

CNA Staff, Jul 27, 2020 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- The Catholic community at Queen of Peace Parish in Ocala, Florida is rebuilding after the church was set on fire earlier this month.

In addition to the physical restoration, Fr. Patrick O'Doherty, the church’s pastor, said the community is keeping the faith.

“Evil never attacks evil. The church is something very good. I take the attack on the church as a sign that we’re doing the right thing here,” he said in a video posted recently to YouTube by the Diocese of Orlando.

On the morning of July 11, a man crashed a minivan through the front door of Queen of Peace Catholic Church. He then set the church aflame while parishioners inside prepared for morning Mass.

Police arrested Stephen Anthony Shields, 24, of Dunnellon, Florida later that day. He has been charged with attempted murder, arson, burglary, and evading arrest.

According to local media, Shields told police he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia but is not currently taking prescribed medication. He said that he awoke on Saturday morning with a “mission,” and that he purchased the gas at a nearby gas station, according to Ocala-News.

In the diocese’s video, O’Doherty thanked God that no one was injured in the incident. He recalled his experience that morning.

“This white van came towards me, did a U-turn, jumped the pavement, and crashed into…the two front doors of the church. He’d gotten inside the narthex, put 10 gallons of gasoline on the floor, set it on fire and came out, and I was face-to-face with him,” the priest said. “He jumped into his car, and off he sped.”

Last week, the parish posted an update on the restoration process on Facebook. Current work includes the disassembly of the organ pipes and the early stages of demolishing the narthex. The full restoration is expected to take 8-10 weeks.

 

Progress on restoration.
Total time is estimated to be 8-10 weeks.
 
Photos courtesy of Mike Boisvert (Knight of Columbus)

Posted by Queen of Peace Catholic Church – Ocala, FL on Thursday, July 23, 2020

 

O’Doherty said artwork on the church walls was damaged and will be replaced.

The church was housing several relics – from St. Therese, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. John of the Cross – which were among the few things that did not burn in the fire.

Bishop John Noonan of Orlando said Catholics should see this as a reminder of God’s providence, prompting us to greater trust.

“The good Lord always works miracles. Certain things in life show us that we’re not in charge,” he said in the diocese’s video. “The Lord is in charge, and these are the moments where we have to realize there’s a greater power than we are.”

He also stressed the need to imitate Christ in forgiving those who have harmed us, saying, “The whole message of the Gospel is redemption, forgiveness. If we don’t have forgiveness in our hearts, then what are we filling our hearts with?”

With attacks on Catholic churches and statues across the country, the bishop stressed the need for trust amid uncertainty.

“At the moment, all of us are apprehensive about many things,” he said. “It’s like the disciples in the boat, in the middle of a storm. They wake Jesus up and say, ‘Aren’t you concerned about our safety? What shall we do?’ And Jesus’ response is, ‘Don’t you have faith?’”

“The question today is: Where is the good news?” Noonan continued. “The good news is in the Gospel. The good news is Jesus Christ. And unless we hear the good news, then we are lost.”
 

 

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Sri Lankan cardinal: It is ‘sad and unfortunate’ that Easter bombing suspects are released

October 6, 2020 CNA Daily News 0

CNA Staff, Oct 6, 2020 / 03:13 pm (CNA).- A year and a half after church and hotel bombings killed 259 people and injured another 500 in Sri Lanka, five of seven suspects arrested in connection with the attacks have been released by the country’s government.

The government has said the suspects were released due to a lack of evidence. However, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo, as well as friends and family of the victims, have said they fear the release means corruption, or a lack of a thorough investigation, on the part of the Sri Lankan Criminal Investigation Department.

“It is sad and unfortunate that those who are alleged to have been involved in the attacks are released,” Ranjith said in an Oct. 3 press conference, according to UCA News.

“Those who are affected physically and mentally wait for justice to be meted out, but it is unfortunate that the investigation is not going the way it should,” the cardinal added.

On April 21 of last year, suicide bombers detonated during Easter services at two Catholic churches and one evangelical Christian church, as well as at four hotels and a housing complex that same morning, with a total of nine suicide bombers. Later that week, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks. Ranjith said security officials had confirmed to him a few months ago that there was sufficient evidence against many of the suspects who had been arrested.

Of the suspects released, Ranjith and other Sri Lankans said they were most dubious of the release of Riyaj Bathiudeen, brother of Rishad Bathiudeen, who is the leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress party in Sri Lanka. According to UCA, a police spokesman told journalists on Sept. 15 that Riyaj Bathiudeen had met with one of the suicide bombers before one of the attacks on a hotel, and he is accused of other acts of collaboration with the bombers. He was released after 168 days of detainment. On Oct. 4, relatives of the victims of the Easter bombings protested in front of St. Sebastian’s Church, Katuwapitiya, a little more than 20 miles north of Colombo, demanding a fair and thorough investigation and for justice to be done.

“My family and child were both killed in the Katuwapitiya bombing. We need a fair solution,” S. Fernando, one of the demonstrators, told UCA. “Four of the seven suspects arrested along with Riyaj Bathiudeen in connection with the attack and detained for several months by the CID have been released and none of them have ever been produced in court. Do justice to the dead,” Fernando added. That same day, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in a Facebook post that national security was his government’s top priority, and that they had not made any deals with MP Bathiudeen in the release of his brother. According to UCA News, other media reports in the country claim that if such a deal were made with Bathiudeen, it would be to help secure his support for constitutional changes that would grant “sweeping powers” to the president. Ranjith has been outspoken in calling for a thorough investigation into the attacks. “Anybody who had dealings with these people who set off the bombs, even their bank accounts and their telephone calls, has to be investigated,” the cardinal said in February.

At that time, Ranjith said he believed that past government commissions “may have worked to cover up what happened,” but that he was “pleased” with the way the new presidential commission seemed to be handling the investigation.

Rajapaksa, who assumed office in November 2019, had been working with Ranjith on the investigation. Ranjith appeared before the investigation commission Dec. 6 and 7, 2019, to express the concerns of the victims and of the Catholic community.
 
Sri Lanka is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal; its population is more than 21 million. More than 70% of Sri Lankans are Buddhists, roughly 13% are Hindus, almost 10% are Muslims, and fewer than 8% are Christians. There are 1.5 million Catholics in the country, constituting the overwhelming majority of the Sri Lanka’s Christians.

The country has been plagued with periodic violence since its 26-year civil war concluded in 2009.


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