What would seem to be among the safest places in America came under attack Sunday morning at Annunciation of the Lord Catholic Church on Spring Avenue Southwest.
After communion at the 11 a.m. Mass, a man and woman came forward, screaming.
Then, to the shock and horror of the Rev. Joe Culotta and his congregation, the man turned over the cherished century-old marble altar. It tumbled down the steps and smashed onto the floor, ripping up carpet in front of the first-row pews.
Men from the congregation subdued five people and held them for Decatur police. Detective Todd Walker said no one was injured.
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The Decatur Daily News has more on this story:
In an interview Monday from the visitation room at the Morgan County Jail, Adam Joseph Turgeon, 27, admitted his act of knocking over a marble altar Sunday, shortly after communion at Annunciation of the Lord, was poor judgment.
Decatur police charged Turgeon, his common-law wife Lisa Marie Wagner, 26, and their roommates Val Eugene Loughman, 20, and Loughman's wife Emily Beth Loughman, 21, with felony criminal mischief, following the outburst at the 11 a.m. Mass.
"I woke up Sunday, went, pulled in and there it was," Turgeon said of why the group chose Annunciation of the Lord. "I had a vision. Lisa and me were tearing a church apart. That's not what I did. I just tore up a table that people saw as an idol, kneeling before it and bowing before an idol."
The group went inside, listened to prayers and watched parishioners take communion before the outburst, Turgeon said.
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What kind of God would want someone to destroy a church, any church? God is a loving God and will never ask anybody to do something like this. This is an act of man and not God.
2 comments:
It seems obvious to me that this is a question of mental illness. What is disturbing is that it was more than just one person and that there are certain ideas out there (misunderstood apocalypticism) that lend themselves to this kind of behavior. I think of the Manson family and Jim Jones, and I thank God that these people have not gotten to the point of harming others physically.
Fayrouz, I'm glad to see you got through the storm all right.
Yeh, riding out the hurricane was a great adventure. Do I want to do it again? I don't think so. One time is enough.
As for the church assault, I'm glad people reacted fast and stopped further damage. The assault reminded me of the murder of brother Roger in France.
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