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A Catholic parish in Texas has decided to forgive and not press charges against a teenage boy who this week admitted to vandalizing the church’s outdoor memorial to unborn children.
St. Anthony Catholic Church in Robstown, Texas, discovered the damage on July 15, 3 News reported. The memorial, which features a prominent angel statue and surrounding benches, had been defaced. The statue was found toppled and missing a wing, according to church officials.
“Everything was a mess. The [benches] are all broken,” Father Rogel Rosalinas of St. Anthony told Kris 6 News.
A few days after the vandalism, the teenager returned to St. Anthony and admitted to causing the damage. The report indicates that several parishioners were gathered to repair the benches when the teen approached.
“The young man tells me, ‘I did it, I broke the benches. But I want forgiveness and I want to talk to the priest, I want to go to a confession,’” Gilbert Flores, a parishioner of St. Anthony, told Kris 6 News.
Rather than press charges, the parishioners chose to pray with him and offer guidance and support.
“He [was] embracing each one of them, and everyone who was there was giving him some words of inspiration, some words of love and forgiveness,” Fr. Rosalinas said.
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