By: V4 Agency
Vandals completely ravaged a church in Italy, beheaded the statue of Virgin Mary, forced the tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament open and scattered the consecrated bread. The vandals deliberately committed sacrilege, the bishop says.
Unknown perpetrators wreaked havoc in a parish church in the province of Reggio Emilia in northern Italy. The vandals beheaded the statue of Virgin Mary, tore apart liturgical books, broke and threw sacred vessels all over the church, wPolityce drew attention to the incident.
“This was not simple vandalism but desecration. The vandals wanted to desecrate the Holy Communion. The local community was particularly shocked by this act,” said Massimo Camisasca, Bishop of the Diocese of Reggio Emilia, referring to the fact that the attackers also broke open the tabernacle used to keep the Blessed Sacrament, and scattered the consecrated wafer and the Sacrament itself. According to the Catholic religion, in the Holy Sacrament Jesus Christ himself appears to the believers.
Commenting on the attack, the Bishop said that although it could be a case of ordinary vandalism, hatred towards Christians can be witnessed in the world today, and this is not the first such incident in Italy.
Local police have launched an investigation into the case.