About 200 Orthodox Jewish families and individuals showed up for a rally outside a California court building on Friday, July 21, 2023, to express their support for religious liberty for disabled students. / Becket
Fr. Brian Nunes (left), Fr. Matthew Elshoff, Fr. Slawomir Szkredka, and Monsignor Albert Bahhuth (right) have been named auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. / Angelus News/Archdiocese of Los Angeles
California State Capitol. / Sundry photography/shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 14, 2023 / 08:21 am (CNA).
California Democratic legislators on Thursday hastily voted an anti-child-trafficking bill through a key committee after signi… […]
The California capitol. / Willem van Bergen (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 13, 2023 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
Democrats in the California State Assembly drew criticism this week for blocking a bill that would have elevated the offense o… […]
Cross installed after Father’s Day 2023 at Santiago Retreat Center, Orange County, California. / Photo courtesy of Santiago Retreat Center
Denver, Colo., Jul 5, 2023 / 07:30 am (CNA).
An unknown vandal or vandals sawed down a 14-foot cross at a Catholic-run retreat center in Orange County, California, and investigators are considering whether the act was a hate crime.
“It’s still a mystery why an apparently hateful person destroyed the cross using a chainsaw,” said Mark McElrath, executive director of the Santiago Center, the Orange County Register reports.
The cross had been dedicated during a retreat just before Father’s Day. It is located on a 500-acre retreat center in Silverado Canyon, about 14 miles from the city of Orange. The center has four separate retreat areas and 500 beds for overnight visitors.
Investigators believe the vandalism occurred between 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, and 6 a.m. on Thursday, June 29. Sgt. Frank Gonzalez of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said they are looking at the vandalism as a possible hate crime. He added, “we’re still working on leads.”
Though the retreat center is hosting a vacation Bible camp for school children in grades K-8, none were staying on the campus at night.
McGrath said it wasn’t known whether the camp’s 24-hour security includes surveillance cameras.
Father Glenn Baaten, the chaplain of the Santiago Retreat Center, reflected on the vandalism.
“I was saddened, but perhaps not surprised in this day and age,” he said in a June 30 statement on the retreat center’s website. “In the Bible, in 1 Corinthians 1:18, we know that the cross — for someone who doesn’t believe — is ‘foolishness.’ The Bible also says that to the person who believes in Jesus Christ, the cross is ‘the power of God’.”
“We are praying for the soul of this person who cut down our cross. Redemption, because of Christ’s blood on the cross, is available to all,” Baaten said. “Forgiveness and redemption from God was extended to the thief next to Jesus on the cross — and it’s also extended to this person who visited last night.”
“We will replace the cross, of course,” McGrath said, adding that supporters of the retreat center are already sending in donations.
Denver, Colo., Jun 16, 2023 / 14:21 pm (CNA).
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California legislators honored "Sister Roma" of the anti-Catholic activist group "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" at the state capitol Monday, June 5, 2023. / California State Assembly official website livestream, assembly.c… […]
On May 15, 2023, the Ninth Circuit, in Keene v. City and County of San Francisco, in a ruling that may signal a return to some semblance of normalcy in the post-COVID-19 world, reversed a […]