Bishop Reports Decapitation of Statues of Mary and Jesus at His Church in Australia
Why does someone do something like this?
Bishop Richard Umbers, auxiliary bishop of Sydney, has revealed that someone has been vandalizing religious statues at his church.
“One by one the statues outside my church are either being stolen or desecrated 😞,” the bishop wrote on Twitter.
He included a photo showing a statue of Our Lady of La Vang holding the infant Jesus in which both Mary and Jesus are decapitated. The Our Lady of La Vang image is based on a reported Marian apparition in Vietnam in 1789 during a time of persecution.
One person on Twitter recommended the parish get cameras to catch the perpetrator. Bishop Umbers explained that they already have cameras, but that unfortunately the vandalism occurred right behind a tree.
When asked how people could help, he said people can email the parish at Church@DulwichHillParish.org.au.
Bishop Umbers was consecrated a bishop in August of 2016. Before his consecration, he posted a funny video on Facebook of his elderly mother giving him advice, including “You’ll have everybody making a fuss of you. But just remember you’re only Richard Umbers.” And earlier this fall, we featured Bishop Umbers in an article about how he likes to share memes on Facebook, something not many bishops do.
Say a prayer for his parish!
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