SW News:

A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary erected in front of Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church, Toronto, was found to be desecrated in the dawn of August 30. 

The parishioners were shocked to see the statue in a beheaded state. 

The Toronto police have released a security camera image of a suspect and said that the incident had occurred just after 3:15 am on Sunday. 

The Facebook post by the church states that the parishioners were “horrified” to notice the sacrilegious act. 

Archbishop of Toronto, Cardinal Thomas Collins, in a letter to the parish priest, Fr. Walid El-Khoury  OAM, said that he will be offering a Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral for the parish during this time of suffering. 

Archbishop Collins also said that he will make a formal statement about this as well as similar attacks on the Church. 

On Sunday, September 6, Our Lady of Lebanon parish will be holding a special prayer of reparation for the sacrilegious act and to venerate the disfigured Virgin Mary statue with candles and flowers. 

The church has also urged the faithful to pray that similar episodes would not happen again, and that those responsible for this “senseless and scandalous act of profanation would repent.” 

To watch the whole SW News 150, Click the below link. 

https://youtu.be/MgWVZnWaUiM