Someone hid CD players in Santa Fe’s cathedral on Ash Wednesday that were timed to start playing during noon Mass with recordings of foul language and “pornographic messages.”
Three CD players hidden under a cathedral’s pews blared sexually explicit language in the middle of an Ash Wednesday Mass, leading a bomb squad to detonate two of the devices.
Authorities determined the music players were not dangerous and kept the third one to check it for clues, said police Capt. Gary Johnson.
The CD players, duct-taped to the bottoms of the pews, were set to turn on in the middle of noon Mass on Wednesday at the Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
No word on whether they have an idea who put them there, although this is apparently no random prank. Recording the CDs, buying multiple boom boxes, putting them on timers and secreting them in the church bespeaks a well-planned and well-organized act. Next time will it only be offensive noise?
Technorati Tags:anti-Catholic, cathedral, Catholic, Santa Fe, vandalism
Hmmmm . . . wonder why they didn’t do this at the Unitarian church in SF? It’s a nice big church there, plenty of room for echoes . . .
There is only one word to describe such intentional blasphemy—satanic.
Why they didn’t do it at the Unitarian Church? totally unnecessary. The devil only attacks those who love and profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. I hope the evildoers are caught and punished asap.
I’m guessing it was some adolescent 20 year old college kids with some money and a liberal mindset who thought they would “get those stupid Catholics and their anti-abortion agenda.”
Usually, when I guess stuff like this I am totally off. I wonder if they could be charge with planting fake explosive devices, since the bomb squad had to be brought in.
Here’s a question: when the person(s) responsible are caught, will they be charged with a “hate crime”?
Don’t hold your breath.
It’s another example of the cowardice that is inherent among those who hate the Catholic Church. Aside from the technological gimmicks used, there is not much new here. Just another outburst of adolescence and stupidity. Let us hope and pray that Our Lord makes pious Catholics out of all of these blasphemers. He has done so with worse examples.
On the bright side… apparently they don’t lock up the churches in Santa Fe. That’s nice.
They’ll have to start doing so now.
So far, I’ve only seen this story on the Internet—has it made it anywhere in the MSM? And what kind of play did it get?
It could have been a dry run for something much more heinous. Sort of a “let’s see if we can get these devices in here undetected and time them to go off together” sort of thing. Next time, something more explosive than porn.
Hopefully not, but it pays to be cautious these days.
Andy L
I wonder how the celebrant reacted when the noise began? And who took them to the basement? And was Mass interrupted?
This was unprecedented, but now that it’s on the web, there may be copycats out there, and it would be nice to know how to handle it if it ever happens at a Mass we are attending.
“Here’s a question: when the person(s) responsible are caught, will they be charged with a ‘hate crime’?
The correct answer here, of course, is “Absolutely Not”. By definition, whenever a hate crime is perpetrated against the Church, it’s not a hate crime. Pure and simple.
How can I know this with such certitude?
A couple of years ago, we had a cross burned at the front door to our parish. They caught the kid pretty quickly. It was considered a youthful prank by a troubled individual. The local ADL chapter basically said, gee, that was terrible, but you Catholics have to handle this one on your own. I think the story actually survived for two full news cycles.
Contrast that with how former gubernatorial candidate (and, at the time, AG) Tom Reilly handled a case where some teenaged girls threw a rock through the window of a home around Christmas time, with a message attached, saying “That’s what you get for not decorating your home for Christmas”, or some such. The residents happened to be Jewish, but the kids apparently didn’t know this.
No matter. Tommy went after the kids hammer and tong, with hate crime charges among others. ADL nearly went thermo. I recall the kids pleaded out to something less, but the contrast between how the two incidents were viewed and handled, particularly since they both occurred in the same town, was quite striking.
And yes – Tommy was AG for both.
Dear Domenico:
The late Fr.John Hardon, S.J., a prolific Catholic writer and theologian, used to say often in his talks that the only way one can tell if he is practicing the Catholic faith is if one is living the eighth beatitude: “Blessed are you when men reproch you, and persecute you, and, speaking falsely, say all manner of evil against you, for My Sake. Rejoice and exult, because your reward is great in heaven; for so did they persecute the prophets who were before you.” (Matt 5: 11-12)
j hughes dunphy
http://www.theorthodoxromancatholic.com
Deacon,
It’s all over the NM press—it was reported in the Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and El Paso papers, as well as on TV.
Here’s the New Mexican’s articles (SF paper):
http://freenewmexican.com/news/57388.html
http://freenewmexican.com/news/57423.html
From the comments, local theories range from the universal “Que desgracia!” to “pro-choicers did it” to “the CIA did it.”
My guess is that *if* the perpetrators are caught, they will claim—with substantial media support—to have been making “art”.
Regarding “locking up the churches”—the Cathedral has lots of visitors/tourists during the day because of its historicity and its proximity to other historical buildings in the area. But it’s surprising that someone was able to carry this act off because of how many people are there, both visitors and caretakers. What a terrible thing to do, and I hope they catch whoever did this.
I hope it’s obvious that my comment was sarcastic.
I agree with Angela – it’s surprising that someone was able to do this b/c when I lived in SF, I never was in the Cathedral, even at 10 a.m. on a weekday in “low season”, that there weren’t at least 5 (or more) other people there. With that and with all the attention, I’m sure this story will come out sooner rather than later.
Interrupting a religious service is a crime in Massachusetts. I’m sure it’s a crime elsewhere. Will this crime be prosecuted as it should? When some bishops did not fully realize that abuse of minors was a crime the government went after them. Let’s see if reciprosity will be in play here.
I just spoke with my sister who lives in Santa Fe. She said that last year on Ash Wednesday a guy disrupted the service by strolling down the main aisle of the Cathedral with few clothes on, and covered in ashes. He was spewing about George Bush and evil. As far as she knows no-one was prosecuted for it last year so she’s not too sanguine about it this year either.