Vandals Devastate Church and Mock Priest
Due to repeated acts of vandalism in the Church of Ritiro, the parish priest, father Romeo, decided to close the church outside worship hours. He posted on Facebook at the end of January: "Due to repeated acts of vandalism in the church, most recently this morning, the church will be closed from today. It will only open before celebrations or parish activities." The mayor of Messina, Cateno de Luca, has expressed his concern and outrage regarding these incidents and announced he would go to Mass as a sign of solidarity to the priest. The mayor described incidents such as overturned candlesticks on the altar, and trash and cigarette buds found on the floor.
Mayor Cateno De Luca: "What happened last night, with candlesticks overturned on the altar, cigarette butts on the ground and remains of food, is yet another episode that has disturbed the parish community led by Don Pippo Romeo. It is hard to understand the reasons for such acts, which strike directly at the heart of the neighbourhood church, which is a point of reference for all the inhabitants of the district. While reiterating my solidarity and my executive's support for what has happened, I hope that the police will cooperate as much as possible in order to view any images taken by the video surveillance system inside the church, so that the perpetrators of this cowardly act can be identified as soon as possible."
Mayor De Luca, who is particularly close to Father Romeo, concluded: 'Tomorrow evening I have already arranged a meeting with Father Romeo in the parish of Ritiro to attend Holy Mass and then share a pizza together. The secretary-general of the CISL Messina, Antonino Alibrandi, also expressed solidarity with the parish priest of Ritiro. "The hope is that it was just a prank - Alibrandi said - because the parish is an important point of reference, support and support for the whole community of Ritiro. We hope that, with the good sense of all, this unpleasant episode can be brought to an end without it ever happening again, and that the Church can keep its doors open even outside of celebrations to allow the faithful and people to have a place where they can gather in prayer".
Sources: Gazzetta del Sud, Tempostretto, Messina Today
Symbolic Photo from Pixabay