California Catholic Daily

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Published: April 16, 2009

“We’re classifying it as a hate crime”

Statue of Blessed Virgin decapitated outside Santa Monica parish

Hours before Easter services were to commence, a vandal or vandals decapitated a statue of the Blessed Virgin outside Santa Monica’s Catholic Church in Santa Monica, the parish where Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, are members.

“As many of you know or may have noticed, our statue of the Blessed Mother at the corner of 7th and California was vandalized, and is currently covered,” the church’s pastor, Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson, said in a message to parishioners posted on the parish’s web site. “It was an unfortunate and sad occurrence, and questions remain as to why someone would feel compelled or driven to do this. But I hope that you, like myself, will be sad about this only briefly. This event is more importantly a challenge and call for us to be even more welcoming and more caring to those who are struggling or hurting in our Santa Monica community. This calling of compassion is the joy of Easter – that God’s love encompasses and surpasses everything – even death. Regardless of the hardships and hurts that we might experience in our lives, the Risen Christ inspires us to live out a deeper, more profound love for our own life and the lives of others. This is the great glory of Easter, that in the end, God’s love vindicates, transforms, and saves all things. So, though our statue of the Blessed Mother needs repair, our Easter joy endures!”

According to the Santa Monica Daily Press, a priest discovered the vandalism about 5:45 a.m. on Easter Sunday. The Blessed Virgin’s head was found on the ground a few feet away, the newspaper reported.

“Anytime a church or school is targeted, we look at it as a possible hate crime,” Santa Monica police Lt. Darrell Lowe told the Daily Press. “In this case, since the vandalism was of a very important figure within the Catholic religion, we’re classifying it and investigating it as a hate crime.”

Investigators remain puzzled about how the head was removed from the 55-year-old marble statue, according to the Daily Press. A parish spokesman told the newspaper that the statue, which stands 5.5 feet tall atop a 3.5-foot-tall pedestal, was not designed for the head to be detached.

The same statue was vandalized in 2002 when both of the Virgin’s hands were removed, the parish spokesman told the newspaper, and police never caught those who were responsible for the crime.

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