Saint Joseph Catholic Church

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The Church of the Gesu, a Jesuit parish that serves the Marquette University community, was vandalized on March 18.

“Most of the damaged items were from the 1960s and 1970s, aside from a statue of St. Anne which is over a century old,” according to a local media report.

The church’s pastor, Father Michael Simone, S.J., said that the perpetrator was experiencing a mental health crisis. “He needs our prayers,” he said. “He needs our help.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has documented over 400 acts of vandalism, arson, and other destruction at parishes and other Catholic sites in the United States since 2020. A tracker from CatholicVote.org lists additional attacks.

In a series of recent ad limina visits, Nigerian bishops spoke with Pope Leo about the conditions Christians face in Africa’s most populous nation.

“We discussed with him the violence, the insurgencies, and the difficulties we face as apostles on the ground,” said Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso, who leads Nigeria’s episcopal conference.

The issue of violence against Christians “came up very strongly with the Pope, and he told us that he will use whatever possibilities he has to highlight our situation and see what he can do for us,” added Archbishop Adewale Martins of Lagos.