'Face of evil': Church ransacked, vandalized with satanic message days ahead of dark ritual at Kansas capitol



Police responding to a reported burglary Saturday morning found "extensive vandalism" at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Wichita, Kansas. In addition to broken windows, toppled statutes, and a torched American flag, police found "hate speech" of an apparently diabolical nature.

When asked about the incident, President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order last month directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to "eradicate anti-Christian bias" in the federal government, told reporters, "I think it's a terrible thing."

"We're going to take a look. I love Wichita," said Trump. "I'm going to take a look at it."

The Wichita Police Department announced Sunday that they arrested a 23-year-old Saline County man in connection with the anti-Christian attack.

"Recognizing the severity of this crime, WPD officers and investigators — alongside the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives] — immediately launched a full-scale investigation," the police department noted in a statement. "Our dedicated Crime Scene Investigation team worked diligently to analyze evidence, leading to the swift identification of a suspect."

'Attacks against churches are disgraceful.'

Sedgwick County booking records indicate that the suspect, Michael Gonzalez, has been slapped with multiple charges in connection with the church attack, including criminal desecration, burglary, and criminal damage to property.

According to the Kansas Catholic Conference, the vandal scrawled a satanic website link on the wall — timely because the Satanic Grotto, an unpolished knockoff of the Massachusetts-based Satanic Temple, plans to hold a "Black Mass" at the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka on March 28, mocking Catholics, their faith, their central sacrament, and the Stations of the Cross.

The Grotto, which asserts that "only might is right and violence is the ultimate source of all authority," indicated in a listing for its anti-Catholic event that it plans to "dedicate the grounds and our legislature to the glory of Satan" and will "be performing rites to the Black Mass and indulging in sacrilegious blaspheme."

The Grotto joked about the church attack, writing, "I really thought he'd be wearing a cape."

"This is the face of evil," said the KCC in reference to the vandalism at St. Patrick's.

Chuck Weber, executive director of the KCC, told the Catholic News agency that there is presently no evidence linking the vandalism at St. Patrick's in Wichita to the Satanic Grotto but indicated that Michael Stewart, the leftist leader of the Grotto, has been calling the KCC with the aim of "taunting me and the bishops" and boasting of his intent to "kill Jesus."

The KCC noted that parishioners at the predominantly Hispanic parish in the working-class neighborhood of North-Central Wichita were unable to attend Mass at the church on Saturday evening as a result of the vandalism. However, WPD Chief Joe Sullivan said after attending the St. Patrick Catholic Church St. Patrick's Day parade on Sunday that the "congregation and the community came together in celebration."

"Their resilience was evident, especially after the heartbreaking burglary and vandalism that occurred yesterday," added Sullivan.

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran (R) noted, "The parish of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Wichita has demonstrated faith & fortitude these last few days. Attacks against churches are disgraceful. I appreciate @WichitaPolice acting quickly to investigate & arrest a suspect connected to this crime."

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Celebrating Saint Patrick, the slave who converted his captors



I remember when I first wanted to move to Ireland.

Oh, I’d seen beautiful photos, like this:

MyLoupe/Getty Images

And in later years I was enchanted by films that painted a charming picture of Irish village life, like "Waking Ned Devine" (highly recommend).

Serve something Irish, and I don’t mean a shamrock-shaped Domino’s pizza. I’m pretty sure there’s a law that you must eat potatoes to truly celebrate Ireland.

But the real reason, held tightly in my elementary school heart, was that I read a story of how Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland.

And man, do I hate snakes.

Of course I eventually realized that was a myth, which may have been an allegory for driving pagans out of the Emerald Isle, or something along those lines.

But I still may have to move to Ireland, because — here’s a cool thing — apparently the fossil record shows there never really were any snakes there. That’s my idea of heaven!

In reality, though, it turns out that the coolest thing about all this was Patrick himself. (And I’m going to refer to him as Patrick, because all of us who have been saved by faith in Christ are now saints in Him. Here’s a good explanation of that truth.)

The real Patrick

Patrick was British, born into a Christian family around the fifth century. He wasn’t really a believer himself, apparently, but things changed at age 16 after he was captured by Irish raiders who forced him into slavery in Ireland. The hardships he endured drove him back to God, and his faith deepened.

Six long years later, he managed to escape back to his family in Britain — but after a dream in which he understood God to tell him to return to Ireland, to convert the pagans to faith in the one true God, he did exactly that.

Patrick did not drive out all the pagans (or snakes), but he is reported to have planted churches and made thousands of converts. Perhaps due to his Christian family, which included a deacon and possibly other learned individuals, he also had quite a grasp of Scripture, as theologian and pastor Kevin DeYoung notes:

In his "Confessio" Patrick writes movingly about his burden to evangelize the Irish. He explicitly links his vocation to the commands of Scripture. Biblical allusions like "the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth" and "I have put you as a light among the nations" and "I shall make you fishers of men" flow from his pen. Seeing his life’s work through the lens of Matthew 28 and Acts 1, Patrick prayed that God would "never allow me to be separated from His people whom He has won in the end of the earth." For Patrick, the end of the earth was Ireland.

But what I find most inspiring about Patrick is that he may well have been the first person in Christian history to take those scriptures literally — to understand that bringing Christ to “all nations” meant, as DeYoung notes, “teaching even barbarians who lived beyond the border of the frontiers of the Roman Empire.” And this after being enslaved to them!

What an amazing legacy. If you want the whole story, DeYoung recommends "The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity," which explains how Christianity swept (slowly) across Europe.

So by all means, celebrate Patrick, on March 17 or any other day. Getting drunk (the traditional adult celebratory activity) doesn’t seem a proper tribute to the man, of course, so here are some better and more family-friendly suggestions.

Celebrating Patrick: History

Celebrating Ireland — just for fun

The Real Reason To Celebrate St. Patrick Has Nothing To Do With Beer Or Parades

The parades and the Guinness are fun, but they overshadow what should be a celebration of a man who could see God in the midst of trials.

Nancy Pelosi ridiculed for 'cringe' St. Patrick's Day recitation of Bono poem supporting Ukraine



Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was roasted on social media after she recited what many users said was a "cringe" poem written by U2's Bono.

What are the details?

Pelosi read the poem during the Friends of Ireland luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday as an apparent tribute to Ukraine's fight against Russian invaders.

“Oh St. Patrick, he drove out the snakes with his prayers, but that’s not all it takes,” Pelosi began. “With the smoke symbolizes an evil that arises and hides in your heart as it breaks, and the evil risen from the darkness that lives in some men, but in sorrow and fear, that’s when saints can appear. You drive out those old snakes once again, and they struggle for us to be free from the psycho in this human family.”

“Ireland’s sorrow and pain is now the Ukraine and St. Patrick’s name is now Zelenskyy,” she concluded after adding that Ireland native Bono — whose real name is Paul David Hewson — has "been a very Irish part of our lives."

Following the poem's conclusion, she proudly remarked, "How about that?"

Pelosi reads her aforementioned poem from Bono:\n\n"Ireland's sorrow and pain\nIs now the Ukraine\nAnd Saint Patrick's name now Zelenskyy."pic.twitter.com/AEhD5REwZZ
— Greg Price (@Greg Price) 1647541130

What was the response?

Billy Gribbin, communications director for Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-N.M.), wrote, "This is a Saint Patrick’s day hate crime."

This is a Saint Patrick\u2019s day hate crimehttps://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1504522662294528012\u00a0\u2026
— Billy Gribbin (@Billy Gribbin) 1647542919

Radio host Gerry Callahan added, "It is even worse than you imagined. I can only assume Bono has already gone into hiding or checked into rehab."

It is even worse than you imagined. I can only assume Bono has already gone into hiding or checked into rehab.https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1504522662294528012\u00a0\u2026
— Gerry Callahan (@Gerry Callahan) 1647541834

Chuck Ross, reporter for the Washington Free Beacon, added, "I need a Guinness to wash down the cringe."

I need a Guinness to wash down the cringehttps://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1504522662294528012\u00a0\u2026
— Chuck Ross (@Chuck Ross) 1647541436

Commentator and Federalist publisher Ben Domenech wrote, "Is this a prank? Did someone pretend to be Bono and sent her this?"

Is this a prank? Did someone pretend to be Bono and sent her this?
— Ben Domenech (@Ben Domenech) 1647541540

Author James Surowiecki — a former writer for the New Yorker — added, "It was somehow worse than I had imagined it would be, and I had imagined it would be pretty bad."

It was somehow worse than I had imagined it would be, and I had imagined it would be pretty bad.https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1504518269386043402\u00a0\u2026
— James Surowiecki (@James Surowiecki) 1647540450

Liam Stack, reporter for the New York Times, responded, "Nancy Pelosi introducing this poem: 'Bono has been a very Irish part of our lives.' Extraordinary levels of Irish cringe. This poem brought the snakes back."

Nancy Pelosi introducing this poem: \u201cBono has been a very Irish part of our lives.\u201d \n\nExtraordinary levels of Irish cringe. \nThis poem brought the snakes back.https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1504518269386043402\u00a0\u2026
— Liam Stack (@Liam Stack) 1647542389

Pelosi embarrasses herself, reads cringe St Patrick’s Day poem



When you think House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can't get any cringier, she grabs a microphone and says, "hold beer."

At Thursday's St. Patrick's Day luncheon, Pelosi shared a poem written by Irish singer/songwriter Bono. Yes, it was as cringe as you are imagining. Here's an excerpt:

"Ireland's sorrow and pain
Is now the Ukraine
And Saint Patrick's name now Zelenskyy."

Follow @theblaze on Twitter.


Nancy Pelosi reads cringe poem by Bono:

"Ireland's sorrow and pain is now the Ukraine and Saint Patrick's name now Zelenskyy." pic.twitter.com/ndeRj0Ys07

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) March 17, 2022