{"id":26744,"date":"2025-03-18T12:21:33","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T16:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=26744"},"modified":"2025-03-18T12:21:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T16:21:33","slug":"kansas-catholic-church-vandalized-with-satanic-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/03\/kansas-catholic-church-vandalized-with-satanic-message","title":{"rendered":"Kansas Catholic Church Vandalized With Satanic Message"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kansas Catholic Conference \/ Facebook | Inset: Sedgwick County Jail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A man is in custody after a Wichita, Kansas Catholic church was vandalized. Police responded to a burglary call around 7:30 am on Saturday from St. Patrick Catholic Church. According to reports and images, the church had been heavily vandalized, with windows and candles being smashed and broken, a satanic website being scrawled on the walls, and an American flag being burned. A statue of St. Patrick had also been beheaded and smashed, just days before the holiday commemorating him. A Facebook post from Kansas Catholic Conference shared images<\/a> of the damage, noting that the church is made up of a primarily Latino congregation and that the site also includes a parish school. \u201cParishioners were unable to worship at Mass here Saturday night\u2014and may not be able to do so on Sunday. The FBI is investigating. A Satanic website was scrawled on a wall. This is the face of evil,\u201d the group stated.<\/p>\n

Wichita police have arrested<\/a> a 23-year-old Saline County man, with the investigation ongoing. A post<\/a> from the department shared that it had received intelligence that had led to the arrest around 2:20 am the next day and that the arrest had occurred \u201cwithout incident.\u201d \u201cThe suspect has been booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on charges of Burglary, Criminal Desecration, and Criminal Damage to Property. The case will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney and federal prosecutors for formal charging considerations,\u201d the department added. Police Chief Joe Sullivan condemned the act. \u201cThis reprehensible act of vandalism will not be tolerated. Our officers and investigators worked tirelessly to bring this suspect to justice. I want to extend my sincere gratitude to our dedicated staff, civilian and commissioned,\u201d he said. \u201cOur commitment to protecting every member of this community remains unwavering.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump, who has vowed to fight against \u201canti-Christian discrimination, weighed in on the vandalism. \u201cWell, we\u2019re going to take a look. I love Wichita,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cYou know, I got big votes there. We won that state by a lot.\u201d The church was forced to hold masses in the school\u2019s gym due to the damage but was able to host its St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade on Sunday. According to Chuck Weber, executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, there is currently no evidence that the suspect is connected to the satanic group that will be holding a \u201cblack mass\u201d event at the Kansas State Capitol on March 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A man is in custody after a Wichita, Kansas Catholic church was vandalized. Police responded to a burglary call around 7:30 am on Saturday from St. Patrick Catholic Church. According to reports and images, the church had been heavily vandalized, with windows and candles being smashed and broken, a satanic website being scrawled on the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":26747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nKansas Catholic Church Vandalized With Satanic Message<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Wichita Catholic church was vandalized with satanic graffiti, a beheaded statue, and a burned flag. A suspect is in custody.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/03\/kansas-catholic-church-vandalized-with-satanic-message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kansas Catholic Church Vandalized With Satanic Message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Wichita Catholic church was vandalized with satanic graffiti, a beheaded statue, and a burned flag. 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