Since the 2020 summer riots, when vandals caused billions of dollars in damages, there have been at least 275 attacks against Catholic Churches in the United States, reported CatholicVote Civic Action, a nonprofit advocacy organization.
While the rioting and looting were winding down at the end of the summer, the targeted attacks against churches were just ramping up.
The more than 275 attacks against Catholic Churches since May 28, 2020, included arson, damaged and destroyed property, graffiti, and shattered windows.
According to CatholicVotes, churches across the nation have been spray-painted with satanic messages, and religious statues have been decapitated.
The widespread attacks occurred with more frequency following the leak of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in May 2022.
Since then, churches have been vandalized and spray-painted with pro-abortion messages at least 118 times. Churches in 42 states and Washington D.C. have been targeted. Some of those houses of worship have been hit multiple times.
States that experienced the most attacks include California, with 39; New York, 28; Pennsylvania, 19; Texas, 15; Colorado, 14; and New Jersey, 14. The largest clusters of attacks against churches occurred in major cities, including New York City, Denver, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Only 25% of the incidents have resulted in an arrest.
CatholicVote penned a letter to the Department of Justice in December 2021, documenting 113 alleged attacks on churches and calling for the agency to act. In the letter, CatholicVote President Brian Burch slammed the DOJ for making “no meaningful effort to raise awareness or address the disturbing rise in hate-filled attacks on Catholic religious symbols, shrines, statues and churches.”
The DOJ replied in January 2022, promising a “15-day review to ensure that all appropriate resources are being deployed to protect houses of worship.”
In June 2022, the National Terrorism Advisory System released a bulletin warning that “faith-based institutions” could face “a heightened threat environment.”
“The FBI works closely with our law enforcement partners to investigate threats and attacks against houses of worship,” the FBI told Fox News Digital. “Frequently, these investigations are conducted jointly by the FBI and state and local law enforcement and are prosecuted under state statutes.”
“If an investigation determines that a suspect violated one of the federal hate crime statutes, then the FBI will coordinate our investigation with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, which will make the final determination about whether or not the suspect would be charged and prosecuted with a federal hate crime,” the FBI added.
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