Blessings offered to since-restored baby Jesus statue vandalized at Queens church
NEW YORK -- Parishioners at a Queens Catholic church were rejoicing on Sunday after a 42-year-old statue that was vandalized over the summer was blessed by clergy.
As CBS News New York's Kristie Keleshian reports, it wasn't the first time the church was targeted by vandals.
There were blessings by Bishop Robert Brennan for the statue of baby Jesus that's now fully intact and in its original spot between Mary and Joseph outside of Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Fresh Meadows, Queens.
"The statue is restored. Our faith is restored again," Father Sean Sukiel said.
Video shows the vandal in action
At around 5 a.m. on June 30, a man is seen on surveillance video stopping his taxi across the street from the church and then striking the baby Jesus statue multiple times, leaving it headless. Police say the man responsible was eventually arrested and charged with a hate crime. He will appear in court at a later date.
"This is kind of small when you look at so many who are suffering for their faith, here and around the world, as you see so many attacks on religion and violence and all of that," Brennan said.
Holy Family Roman Catholic Church was targeted in another attack over a year before -- in late March of last year. Teens believed to be 15 to 17 years old were seen on video removing an angel statue from behind a fence, and then throwing it on the ground. That statue wasn't replaced and those teens were later arrested, but released.
"It just gets tiring when this happens to us, but we're not going to let [it] ruin our faith. We're going to keep coming back and we're not going to remove our statues. We're not going to start hiding our statues. No, this is our property and we're proud of our faith," Sukiel said.
The church has since installed more fencing and surveillance cameras. Although the attacks didn't happen while school was in session at Holy Family Catholic Academy, they compromised eighth grader Isabella Rivera's peace of mind.
"My school is right there, so it was a little frightening that someone would do that to a statue and to people that would harm no one," Rivera said.
Forgiveness offered to those responsible for the vandalism
Bishop Brennan told the congregation at Sunday's Mass to not live in fear.
"Well, you know the scriptures that came to us today were from the prophet Isaiah. He said, 'Say to those who are frightened, fear not, be strong. Your God is here to save you.' And that statue says it so eloquently and we say it to one another," Brennan said.
Sukiel also offered a message to those who have targeted the church.
"We want to hold you accountable. We want justice served, but we do forgive you. We're in the business of forgiving and we hope and pray that whatever it is that he's going through that he finds peace in his own heart and his own life," Sukiel said.
