The massive assault on St. Brigid’s Church (“St. Brigid’s Church vandalized,” May 8) is shocking in itself, but it is also shocking as a historical departure.
Up until the last five years, I think Catholics have felt safe and accepted. There have been vestiges of past prejudice. In the 1950s, I was one of first Catholic Ph.D.’s (three in all) ever permitted to teach in an academic department at the university.
But for the last few years the attitude toward Catholics has been benign. Is the vandalism evidence of a more hostile atmosphere? I think not.
It might be natural for some Catholics to assume that the vandalism was somehow ideological, premeditated. But before turning to such thoughts, Catholics should bear in mind that Black Christians and Jews have been dealing with physical attacks on their sacred spaces and on their very lives for years.
Of course, we don’t yet know who did it or why. It may simply be a mentally disturbed person or persons. Whatever the motive, we must all welcome Pastor John Smegal’s reaching out with words of forgiveness.
Mario S. De Pillis Sr.
Amherst