CV NEWS FEED // After a Kansas Catholic church last weekend was desecrated and vandalized with a satanic message scrawled on the wall, President Donald Trump said March 18 that his administration would be looking into it.
Police March 16 arrested Michael Gonzalez, 23, in connection with the vandalism and desecration, according to outlet KWCH 12 News. CatholicVote previously reported that the attack occurred March 15 at St. Patrick Catholic Church and involved defacing of sacred spaces, smashed glass, destruction of religious statues, and a satanic website graffitied onto a wall. A burned American flag was also in the church. The Kansas Catholic Conference decried the attack as a hate crime. Both the Wichita Police Department and the FBI have been investigating the vandalism, according to KWCH 12.
In an exchange with journalists at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts March 18, Trump was asked about the vandalism by Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) correspondent Owen Jensen. EWTN News Nightly posted a video of the interaction on X.
“I know you signed an [executive order] eradicating anti-Christian bias,” Jensen said after describing the damage at the vandalized church. “But, sir, what more can the White House do to protect places of worship like St. Patrick’s Church in Wichita, Kansas?”
“Well, we’re going to take a look,” Trump responded. “I love Wichita. You know, I got big votes there. We won that state by a lot. We’ll take a look at that. When did this happen?”
Jensen told him that it happened during the past weekend, and reiterated the extent of the damage.
“I think it’s a terrible thing,” Trump replied. “And this was a Catholic church? I’m going to take a look at it.”
CatholicVote previously reported that after the vandalism, the church canceled all services while the damage was assessed. According to the Wichita Eagle, Sunday Mass was held in the church’s gym. As of March 17, the vandalism had been cleaned up, and the celebration of Mass in the church was set to resume March 18.
According to news outlet KWCH, the suspect arrested has previous convictions related to “criminal threat, criminal damage to property, and burglary.”
CatholicVote previously reported that the attack at St. Patrick’s came as outcry continues to spread over a satanic worship ritual that is scheduled to take place at the Kansas State Capitol March 28. The Kansas Catholic Conference has condemned the scheduled ritual, which its organizer has said is a pro-abortion protest.
CatholicVote has launched a national petition calling for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly to stop the satanic worship ritual from taking place.
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