ROME (LifeSiteNews) — A Catholic church and a chapel at Rome’s busiest train station were recently desecrated within a week of one another, with an act of reparation being performed in one and the other being closed after the sacrilege.
On November 25, human feces were found at various parts of San Nicola di Bari Church (St. Nicholas of Bari) in Ostia, including the altar, per the Diocese of Rome. Cardinal Vicar Baldassare Reina, the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome; Bishop Monsignor Renato Tarantelli Baccari, auxiliary bishop of the Southern sector; and the parish priest celebrated a Solemn Mass of reparation at the church on December 1.
Just days after the first desecration, urine and human excrement were also found in multiple corners of a Catholic chapel, including the altar, at the Termini Railway Station, Rome’s main train station, which frequently draws Catholic pilgrims traveling to the Eternal City, according to Italian media. After this desecration, the chapel was temporarily closed, but enough faithful volunteered to watch it, allowing it to reopen.
“San Nicola di Bari … was shaken by a very serious and unspeakable sacrilegious act that occurred this afternoon … inside the sacred building,” a diocesan statement on the desecration at St. Nicholas Church said. “Unknown vandals entered the church making a gesture of profound desecration: human excrement was found in several places in the building, including the altar, a place reserved for the Eucharistic Sacrifice.”
After the desecration, while the church remained open to the public, Masses were temporarily celebrated at a nearby church until the December 1 Mass of reparation, during which the altar and walls were purified.
READ: Cardinal jailed by communists recites exorcism during Latin Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica
In a Facebook post, Mario Falconi, the president of Rome’s X municipality who attended the solemn Mass, condemned the sacrilegious act.
“I deem it necessary to strongly condemn such an unqualified act — it is not just vandalism, but an attack on memory, spirituality, and values that have always united our families and our neighborhoods,” he wrote.
The perpetrator(s) of the desecration have not been found or identified as of publication.
The Termini chapel, on the other hand, which in addition to being a frequent place of prayer for traveling faithful, is also located in an area that has become notorious for its homeless population and drug use. These conditions have led to multiple recent acts of desecration, prompting the temporary closure of the chapel out of concern for further acts of blasphemy occurring, especially during the many hours when no Catholics are inside the chapel.
Father Domenico Monteforte, the rector of the Termini Chapel, told an Italian news outlet that, while he has no ill will toward the homeless and poor citizens around the station for whom the chapel is often a refuge, some unfortunately lack respect for its sacred character.
”(F)or many, the church is a refuge. Even among travelers, many stop to talk, seek comfort, tell their stories, and even confess,” the priest said. “Then, unfortunately, there are those who have no respect for the sanctity of the place.”
Father Luigi Maria Epicoco, a popular Italian priest with a large social media following, posted a picture of a sign in front of the chapel on Facebook on November 29 that explained its closure. The priest urged the faithful to volunteer their time to help reopen it.
“I appeal to all those who live in Rome: give an hour of your time volunteering to allow the Chapel to remain open and protected from all the blasphemy attacks it is subject to,” he wrote. “Rome is full of people, I can’t think there are not men and women of good will. Courage! Small ‘Yeses,’ can be a sign of light in this darkness!”
Fr. Epicoco’s appeal bore fruit as enough faithful volunteered to reopen the chapel. It is not known, however, if any acts of reparation have been said in the chapel.
The perpetrator(s) of this sacrilegious act have also not been identified or taken into custody as of this writing.
In October, another act of anti-Catholic vandalism occurred near the Termini station, when leftists defaced a statue of Pope John Paul II at the Piazza dei Cinquecento by spraying graffiti calling the late pope a “fascist,” along with the communist hammer and sickle.
Numerous acts of desecration inside churches have taken place throughout Europe and indeed across the globe within the last year alone. In October, a man urinated on the high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica during Mass. In February, another man jumped onto St. Peter’s high altar and kicked off the historic candelabra along with the altar cloths.
READ: Man desecrates high altar in St. Peter’s Basilica by urinating on it during Mass
In June, a Spanish feminist comedian, Ane Miren Hernández Unda, posted a video of herself jumping on top of the altar of the historic Saint-Laurent-d’Arbérats Church in France, shouting multiple blasphemies about Our Lord and the Church, and using a crucifix to commit a sacrilege.
