El Paso Diocese Discusses Weekend Vandalism Incident At St. Raphael’s Church

Social media was abuzz with rumors of a local Catholic church being vandalized this weekend. The Diocese of El Paso issued a statement about the incident at St. Raphael's Church at 2301 Zanzibar Road on the city's east side:

"On Saturday, June 11, the Diocese was alerted to an act of vandalism at St. Raphael Parish.
According to Jorge Vergen, director of Catholic Properties, a young woman entered the parish and was seen praying.
Moments later, she began to throw statues to the ground, breaking them. Several candle pillars were busted. Holy Water as well as Chrism Oil were also thrown to the ground.
An employee of the parish called 911 while following the woman out of the parish. She was caught by EPPD moments later.
It is our understanding from EPPD that the woman suffers from some kind of mental illness and she was transported to a local hospital.
The damage was cleaned up in about an hour.
A quinceañera that was scheduled for the afternoon was slightly delayed though all other Mass services went on as usual."

We hope the young woman gets the help she needs.