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The Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco took an extreme step to purge the site of a statue that was torn down by ignorant leftists in an “act of sacrilege.”
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone condemned the criminal behavior of vandals who toppled the statue of Roman Catholic Spanish priest, St. Junípero Serra, last week in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. At a prayer vigil held at the site over the weekend, Cordileone offered a prayer of exorcism “because evil is present here.”
(Source: Archdiocese of San Francisco/YouTube)
“An act of sacrilege occurred here,” the archbishop said in a video posted by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, referring to the “blasphemously torn down” statue of the friar who was canonized as a saint by Pope Francis in 2015.
“We offered the prayer of exorcism, the St. Michael Prayer, because evil is present here. This is the activity of the evil one who wants to bring down the Church, who wants to bring down all Christian believers,” Cordileone said.
He added that the presence of Christians who turned out for the ceremony was comforting to him, personally.
“I’ve been feeling great distress and sort of a deep wound in my soul when I see these horrendous acts of blasphemy, and the disparaging of the memory of Serra who was such a great hero, who was such a great defender of the indigenous people of this land,” he added.
U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy condemned the “senseless” attack of the statue by a leftist mob in a tweet sharing video of the incident.
“This isn’t peaceful protesting. It’s senseless destruction, and it must end,” the California Republican wrote.
A San Francisco mob tore down a statue of Junípero Serra—a saint who founded nine Spanish missions in California and made it his life’s work to serve others.
This isn’t peaceful protesting. It’s senseless destruction, and it must end. pic.twitter.com/ZXVzHce275
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) June 21, 2020
“Patriots, the Left plays for keeps while so many ‘conservative’ leaders just seek to placate the mob,” Steve Cortes, the national spokesman for the pro-Trump America First PAC, tweeted. “The madness must stop. Are you angry yet???”
Critics have condemned Serra for his work to convert Native Americans to Catholicism and, one day after the San Francisco statue was toppled, a second one that stood near Union Station was also brought down.
Happy to see the Junípero Serra statue taken down. He was part of the colonial system when my town rose up against the Spanish in 1755. He was a fundamentalist and played a key role in the subjugation of Indigenous people, from Queretaro to the Bay. He deserves no monument.
— Chema Hernández Gil (@elsanfranciscan) June 20, 2020
Natives just tore down the statue of Junipero Serra at Placita Olvera in solidarity with #BLMprotest #antiracism #antislavery pic.twitter.com/8ZDdv7vej7
— L.A. TACO 🌴🌮 (@LATACO) June 20, 2020
Apparently a protective shield was formed around one statue of the 18th century Spanish missionary.
OVER OUR DEAD BODIES: Catholic young people post guard around Saint Junipero Serra statue—the founder of the California missions. This one is not coming down pic.twitter.com/wZ5OmRRDvD
— Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) June 27, 2020
Cordileone’s message to Catholics was to “pray and to fast and then to inform themselves.”
“There’s a lot that people don’t know. There’s a lot of ignorance of the real history,” he said, adding that there is “every reason to be proud” of much of the history of the church.
Catholics in Missouri who gathered to pray around the base of the statue of King Louis IX, the Crusading king of France during the 13th century who was also a Catholic saint, clashed with leftists over the weekend.
Catholics rallying around statue in St. Louis are beaten by BLM protesters https://t.co/6y523JSWFB
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) June 29, 2020
“We should not seek to erase history,” the Archdiocese of St. Louis said in a statement on Sunday, “but recognize and learn from it, while working to create new opportunities for our brothers and sisters.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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