Hillsborough Catholic parish vandalized | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal. The author of this post is David Larson.

    Early the morning of Sunday July 3, vandals targeted Holy Family Catholic Church in Hillsborough, N.C., with anti-Christian and pro-abortion messages in bright yellow spray paint.

    Those arriving for the morning services had to walk past a large message of "F*CK THE CHURCH," which was painted directly in between the two main entrances. In the parking lot there was a message that said, "I love abortion," and on a concrete wall, there was an anarchy symbol.

    The pastor of the parish, Fr. Ryan Elder, said he could not comment to the press because of diocesan policy, but he addressed the issue during his homily.

    The Gospel reading for the week was from Luke 10, where Jesus sends out his followers to different cities to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. He said some would receive them and celebrate their message, while others would meet them with hatred and oppose the message. Fr. Elder said the vandalism showed that this remains true to the present day when people present "the full Gospel."

    A member of the church council said the incident was reported to the Orange County Sheriff's Office and that the parish has active video cameras.

    At 1 p.m. on July 3, members of the parish also gathered to clean up the damage and to pray for those who had vandalized the property, for pregnant women in crisis, and for the nation.