Fire at former church disheartens
community
Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published April 28, 2006
Detroit – It saddens a community when a parish is closed. And to have a closed church fall prey to arson and apparent sacrilege only adds to the heartbreak.
But that's what happened at the former St. Christine Church on the west side of Detroit on April 20. When an unknown arsonist or arsonists broke into the church building, lit a fire and burned a portion of the church and a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, they appeared to have done as much damage to the hearts of long-time parishioners as they did to the building.
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A charred statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, originally in a side chapel of the church, lies on the floor of the sacristy of the closed St. Christine Church on Detroit's west side. | "We had a lot of parishioners come by," said Dave Brauer, director of St. Christine's Christian Services, which now is under the jurisdiction of the recently formed St. Catherine of Siena Parish. "They were upset when the church had to close, and now they see this. Not good. They're not taking it too well."
St. Catherine of Siena Parish was formed last year when St. Christine and St. Gemma parishes merged in June. St. Christine Christian Services is an anchor in community service on Detroit's west side, feeding 400 people per week and running after-school and youth programs to help keep kids away from the gang culture that penetrates the area.
Brauer said the closed St. Christine Church, which was being used for storage while up for sale, had been broken into three times since then.
Last week – the first time considerable damage had been done since the church's closing – boxes inside the church that were designated for charity were doused with gasoline and burned.
"We had boxed up all the old vestments and candles and stuff that we weren't using and we were going to send them down to Louisiana, where they're rebuilding from (Hurricane) Katrina," Brauer said. "That was our intent… and that's what they poured gasoline on."
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Neighborhood kids cross Fenkell Avenue in front ofSt. Christine's former church and parish hall. | The blaze ruined carpeting and burned through the sacristy wall. Charred remains of the items to be donated were piled on the floor. And the statue of Christ, apparently set ablaze, was dragged from a side chapel and laid in the front of the church, where the altar had been.
Having been closed since last summer, the Blessed Sacrament was not at repose in the church.
Many former St. Christine parishioners live in the neighborhood. Marion Perry, a parishioner of 36 years who now is on the worship commission at St. Catherine of Siena, rushed from her nearby home to see the fire as it was being extinguished by firefighters. She said she was shocked.
"I heard sirens, and when my friend called and said it was St. Christine's on fire, I thought, 'No, no, it can't be – it just can't be,'" Perry said.
She'd seen the baptism of a child, her children's first Communions and even one child's wedding in the church.
"It's just terrible," she said. "It's devastating. Even though the church wasn't open for Mass, I still considered it my parish."
Vi Boyle, a parishioner since 1970, said seeing the damage done to the church gave her a sick feeling.
"It made me feel really bad and pretty disgusted that somebody would do something like that to us," she said. "We have a soup kitchen, all the outreach programs, and I'm just disgusted that someone could do this."
Fr. Dariusz Strzalkowski, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish, said the arson of the church was felt by the entire community served by St. Christine Christian Services.
"It's upsetting to everyone in the neighborhood," Fr. Strzalkowski said. "We don't know who did it. We don't know if this person was well or not, so the only thing we can do right now is try to deal with the problem and move on."
Brauer and Fr. Strzalkowski said the arson would not affect the outreach services.
It may, however, complicate the sale of the property. When the incident occurred, an organization was prepared to buy the church. Since the organization planned on turning the church into a gymnasium, the building would have been gutted anyway.
The fire did not cause any structural damage, and the facility is insured.
Fr. Strzalkowski said the parish's lawyers were working on whether any restoration to the church would have to be made before the sale would go through.
As for the person or people who committed the crime – the community of St. Catherine of Siena and St. Christine Christian Services know in their heavy hearts that they need help.
"It's between whoever did it and God," said Perry. "They have to answer to God.… I pray for them."
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