A statue of the Virgin Mary at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston's South End was discovered vandalized with graffiti, leading to calls for a hate crime investigation. According to a Boston.com report, the statue was defaced with pink chalk and bore "illegible religious ramblings." Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn, who represents the South End, has been vocal on social media, drawing comparisons to similar incidents in New York and Florida, urging for the act to be treated with the gravity due to a hate crime.
Flynn, having witnessed the disfigurement of what many hold sacred, said, "The Blessed Mary statue at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross was vandalized last night with graffiti." Authorities responded to the historic church, located at 1400 Washington St., shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday, following the defacement that occurred sometime between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. In a Boston Herald report, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Boston, Terrence Donilon, commented that the archdiocese is aware and that "the statue has been cleaned by Cathedral staff."
This is not the first incident of vandalism at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The same venue has seen previous acts of desecration, including damage to a Jesus Christ statue in 2023 by an Attleboro man. The Boston Police Department, while investigating the current incident, did not initially classify it as a hate or bias crime, even amidst a backdrop of similar acts that have garnered law enforcement and community concern.
The Boston Herald also noted that the Cathedral of the Holy Cross has been dealing with issues of homelessness in the vicinity. Donilon stated, "We will draw no conclusions at this point about what would prompt someone to vandalize the statue of our Blessed Mother. However, we are praying for whoever is responsible."
