SW News: A statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Corpus Christi parish in Corona, California, was vandalized by miscreants. The images of the vandalized statue were posted on social media by the diocese of San Bernardino. “This past weekend Corpus Christi, Corona, had their Our Lady of Guadalupe statue vandalized. We offer our prayers to the Patroness of our diocese, Our Lady of Guadalupe, to be with the community of Corpus Christi at this time,” the diocese said. San Bernardino diocese requested prayers for the parish community.

Political advocacy group CatholicVote’s updated tracker recently revealed that at least 301 Catholic churches were attacked across the United States since May 2020. According to CatholicVote, the attacks include “acts of arson which damaged or destroyed historic churches; spray-painting and graffiti of satanic messages; rocks and bricks thrown through windows; statues destroyed (often with heads cut off); and illegal disruptions of Mass.”

Attacks against churches escalated following the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe vs Wade in May 2022. 45 attacks were reported in California alone, while 29 were reported in New York.

Last year, following the leak of the Supreme Court order, United States senator Michael Lee and Congress member Chip Roy had written a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland expressing concern over the attacks on churches. “Regardless of one’s position on abortion, the free exercise of religion is a core tenet of our Constitution,” they said in the letter.