Posted on 03/09/2008 3:35:00 PM PDT by greyfoxx39
SAN LUIS, Colo. - Members of the parish of the Sangre de Christo Roman Catholic Church planned to vote Sunday on whether to ask authorities to file charges against Mormon missionaries who allegedly damaged a shrine in 2006.
The Pueblo Chieftain reported that church members saw photos on the Web showing the Mormons in the shrine.
The Chieftan reported that Sangre de Cristo Catholic Church members discovered a Web photo Thursday that showed an LDS missionary holding the severed head of a statue at the shrine. Residents since found the head had been replaced, the Chieftan said.
Other photos, also posted on the Photobucket Web site, but removed after Thursday, depicted another missionary who appeared to preach from the Book of Mormon inside the Chapel of All Saints. A third photo showed one missionary pretending to sacrifice another on the altar at the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs.
LDS missionary officials said the three missionaries involved would be disciplined, but declined to release their names, the Chieftan said.
Robert Fotheringham, in charge of the LDS Church's missionary program in parts of four states, and whose region includes the San Luis Valley of Colorado, confirmed the three in the pictures were LDS missionaries, who at the time were serving in the towns of Manassa and Sanford, the Chieftan reported.
Fotheringham said he was "mortified" by the incident.
He said the three missionaries, who come from California, Idaho and Nevada, would face restrictions on their church memberships. He declined to discuss the nature of the restrictions, the Chieftan reported.
Members of the Sangre de Christo parish built the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs, which has become a popular tourist attraction. No damage estimate was available.
Corporal Scott Powell of the Costilla County Sheriff's office said the men could face up to six charges, including felonies for criminal mischief and conspiracy.
Information from The Pueblo Chieftan contributed to this article.
BUT...I bet they don't drink coffee!
They're easier to catch.
I agree, would that no one ever did anything dumb but human nature always comes in to play.
Depends.
Many are.
Would prefer many such to . . . a lot of other luke warm Christians who’d cheat you out of house and home in a business deal etc.
But, like all groups, they are not as homogeneous as they’d like one to think.
And some Jack-Mormons can be as awful as any other individuals in any other group.
Then there’s the aspect of the ‘angel of light’ theology . . . demonic forces are not nice, certainly ultimately but also along te way.
In the interest of disclosure I’m LDS. That said if the missionaries did do the damage they should be brought up on vandalism or destruction of property charges.
Periscope, rig for silent running.
Not to minimize the seriousness of this kind of offense, kids do stupid things, whether they are Mormons, Catholics, Evangelicals or Jews (adults do flaky things too). I am sure they are ashamed and hopefully the resultant punishment will lead them to be more responsible adults. I am sure there are a few on this board who could tell stories of dumb things they might have done and learned from as *youts*.
If all they did was take pictures of themselves goofing off in the shrine, I'd agree with you.
But damaging a statue? Severing the head? That's not youthful highjinks.
Also, keep in mind that these are adults. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most Mormon missionaries in their early 20s? And vetted to boot? If you haven't learned by 20 that desecrating another person's holy spot is wrong on many levels, how can they be trusted to represent their own faith in the world?
Neutralize? That photo caption sure does a good job papering over a vicious suppression of Christianity in Mexico. What paper was it from?
Forgive, 70X7.
Lurking, just lurking ... need to draw back from contending with these cultist so much; their deceits and heresies are wearying me. But to paint all of Mormonism over the vandalism of three immature deluded teens is not s ubject I wish to dive into. Prejudices are learned, we’re not born with them. These boys have prejudices taught to them that led them to this behavior in a moment of weak self control. Their aim was not random but fed by ingrained prejudices. And prejudices are human characteristics we aren’t likely to ‘breed’ out of the species anytime soon.
>>”He didn’t happen to say which was which, did he?”
Tooo-shay!
DG
p.s. Couldn’t figure out how to put the accent mark over the e in touche.
Sounds a bit like a certain person who has dropped out of the race for President.
You'd think that he'd have been pro-LIFE from the GETGO!!!
Pueblo Chieftain
Why not? The first line of society’s defense against deviance is public scrutiny. Why coddle and shelter these Taleban wanna-bes? By sheltering their sins from justice, the church officials are taking their sins upon themselves.
++++++++++++
This just came out today;
“We are providing the names of those involved to law enforcement officials and will continue to cooperate fully with those investigating the incident as well as with officials of the Roman Catholic Church. Those missionaries who have since returned home will face disciplinary action from the church,” the statement read. “The missionary who was still serving in Colorado has also been disciplined and his mission terminated.”
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695260598,00.html
They were disrespectful, but how is this any different from men who stand outside of Mormon temples waving Mormon garments on a stick?
I’m glad to see it. It would infamous if justice waited for the victims to act.
Um, people have to press charges before someone can be turned over for a trial, prosecution, conviction, etc. In the article, it said the congregation is voting on whether or not to press charges. The LDS church is acting ecclesiastically in regards to these missionaries, one of the missionaries was still serving, and he was sent home with a dishonorable discharge (mission terminated immediately.)
And I am not defending what these missionaries did. It was a horrible act. They should be prosecuted for what they did. They were out serving and trying to gain converts in the name of Jesus Christ. They have a greater responsibility to act and respect others beliefs.
And, the LDS church doesn’t release the names of anyone who has discplinary action taken against them. No church does. It is called privacy. People still have the opportunity to repent and be forgiven of their sins.
And stake presidents and bishops are not psychic. Yes, there are signs of unworthy males to serve missions, but how did these leaders know that these missionaries would commit those acts? And how great is going to be their punishment on Judgment Day?
However, let’s put this into a little perspective. The LDS church has about 60,000 missionaries out right now, and did in 2006. 3 missionaries did this, 0.005%. The only other desecration I have heard of missionaries were the 2 in Thailand in the 80’s who sat on Buddha’s head and took pictures of each other.
I agree with the restitution part. I also think they need to publicly apologize to that congregation, and I think they should have charges pressed against them.
Not only that, but they could be prohibited from partaking of the sacrament, holding any church calling, speaking or praying in church, etc.
And exactly how is the church shielding these young men. The pictures showed their name tags, and I am sure the congregation and authorities know who they are.
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