I took this picture of St. Sophia church in Kaunakakai when I was home the other week. This was shot on Jan. 30th.
This is what it looks like today. The image below is from Molokai's newspaper, the Molokai Dispatch:
It's a small island and a small community. Why would ANYONE try to burn the church down? What is there to gain from this act? My husband called it a 'hate' crime. I am bewildered, shocked and flabbergasted. It won't take long for the local community to guess who did it. Like I said, it's a small island. Everyone knows what everyone else is up to.
Now I wonder where the community will celebrate mass, funerals, weddings, baptisms. Yes, there are two other churches that belong to the Catholic Community, but both are on opposite ends of the island and much too small.
You can read more about what little is known so far about this event at Molokai Dispatch's on line site here.
Click here for more info from the Honolulu Advertiser.
Addendum: (from my sister in law, Jayne in Hawaii) You can help by donating to help build the new church. Go to: www.damienchurchmolokai.org or by mailing a check to Blessed Damien Catholic Parish, PO Box 1948, Kaunakakai, HI 96748. Let's rebuild together!
2 comments:
How strange that I would pick tonight to try to catch up with you. This is a horrible crime and I will tell you about more. There have been 11 churches burned to the ground in my area since December - all but 2 have been ruled arson, and those 2 are iffy. This week, 2 were burned at the same time, just a few miles from each other. On one weekend two here in town were burned - one in my neighborhood, an old, old, gorgeous church. We walked up and watched the steeple topple over and watched the flames take everything. It is horrible. I am so sorry to hear of this for you. Remember what the people around here keep saying - that the church is the people, not the building. I know, I know, the building is sacred, but it helps to remember that. I was heartbroken at these last church fires here - a woman whose husband had died was to have held his funeral at one of those churches the next day and new arrangements had to be made. It was so sad. Pray that the people who are doing this to NE Texas will be caught befor someone is hurt; I will pray for the people of St. Sophia.
xoxo
debi
this is awful. Truly. I really don't understand when things like this happen.
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