
CV NEWS FEED // Local police announced they have a suspect in custody for the destruction of several stained glass windows at the National Shrine of St. John Neumann in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
On February 22 police arrested a suspect identified as Haneef Cooper, 39, connected to the potential “vandalism spree,” according to news outlet ABC News WPVI-TV 6. ABC noted that according to local police, “Cooper has a history of vandalism and has previously been charged with criminal mischief.”
Local Police Assess the Crime
Staff at the Shrine on February 19 arrived to find several panels of stained glass windows had been shattered. The windows depict the life of Neumann, who immigrated to the United States from Bohemia in 1836. He was ordained a priest and eventually became the fourth bishop of Philadelphia.
The staff “discovered that someone had thrown a brick and stones” through the window, chief communications officer of the Philadelphia Archdiocese, Kenneth Gavin, told Our Sunday Visitor (OSV).
Police detectives reviewed the Shrine’s security camera footage, which “showed one of the rocks going through the window at 5:33 a.m. Monday and landing in the choir section of the Shrine,” Gavin added.
On the same morning of February 19, similar damages were also discovered at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, “located some 2.2 miles south of the shrine; the InterAct Theater, a mile west of Mother Bethel; and a law firm building half a mile from the theater in the city’s downtown district,” OSV reported.
According to CatholicVote’s violence tracker, the crime marks the 401st attack on a Catholic church since the summer of 2020 and the 11th such crime this year.
The 400th attack was the recent activist takeover of a funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
>> SEE THE TRACKER: OVER 400 ATTACKS ON CATHOLIC CHURCHES <<
Heavy Damages
The preliminary estimated damage cost to the Neumann shrine is $20,000. According to ABC News, the Shrine’s pastor Fr. Micael Cunningham said, “The areas that were broken, it’s going to take extensive work to try to repair it.”
According to OSV, one of the windows damaged depicted Neumann at his desk. The words, “Visions missionary, vocation to save faith of Immigrants to America,” are written above him on the glass.
Another one of the damaged windows depicts Neumann as a priest, kneeling out of obedience to his bishop. The window has the words “First to join the Redemptorist Fathers in America” written above him.
The third damaged window shows Neumann with Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, who was also a Redemptorist. The window includes a quote from Seelos, who said, “Father Neumann was to me in every respect a father whom I can never forget.”
CatholicVote Calls for Federal Investigation
CatholicVote has repeatedly called on the Department of Justice and Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the national rash of anti-Catholic vandalism, according to CatholicVote’s tracker landing page.
“This epidemic of violence against Catholic churches has created a climate of fear for Catholics around the country,” said Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote. “This is an unacceptable state of affairs – no American should have to walk around wondering, ‘Is my church next?’”
In 2020 and 2021, most of the attacks appear to have been motivated by general anti-Catholic ideology, specifically from Black Lives Matter rhetoric. Since the Supreme Court draft opinion in the Dobbs case was leaked in May 2022, however, most of the attacks have been perpetrated by pro-abortion extremists.
