A pro-life display at St. Paul Catholic Church in Fenton, Missouri, was vandalized this week, the Catholic News Agency reported Thursday.
Consisting of a cluster of white crosses and a white banner reading "Pray to End Abortion," the display was discovered by parishioners to be defaced.
The message, written in red paint, read: "Pro-life is a lie, you don't care if people die."
Fr. John Nickolai, the church's pastor, told the Catholic News Agency that there appeared to be no permanent damage to the church's property or the private school it runs, the St. Paul Catholic School.
"The police came here this morning, but I haven't heard any more from them as of 3 [p.m. Central Daylight Time] this afternoon," Nickolai said
Nickolai also encouraged Catholics, in response to the incident, to "pray, fast, and make sacrifices for the conversion of hearts."
Missouri is one of several states to have passed a near-total prohibition on abortion with limited exceptions after the Supreme Court overruled the federal right to obtain the procedure in Dobbs v. Jackson last year.
The Catholic News Agency has tracked 112 incidents of vandalism attacks against Catholic churches, pro-life pregnancy centers, maternity homes, and other pro-life organizations nationwide since the ruling was leaked early in May.
Another tracker by CatholicVote showed 198 attacks on Catholic churches and 88 attacks on pregnancy centers and pro-life groups over the same period. In 2023, to date, 79 attacks on Catholic churches have been recorded.
Breitbart noted that, despite the upsurge, the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden has only indicted four radical pro-choice activists under Title 18 Section 248 of the United States Code.
The section strengthens penalties for those who threaten those seeking an abortion with physical force, those who try to do the same to those who oppose abortion, and those who vandalize abortion facilities or churches.
More than two dozen pro-life activists have been indicted under Section 248 over the same period.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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