It was just 10 days ago that the U.S. Catholic bishops’ religious freedom chair joined forces with interfaith leaders and called for better protection of churches following this past summer’s vandalism at many houses of worship.
In a letter to congressional leaders on Oct. 5, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami asked for the quadrupling of funding of a federal security grant program for non-profits.
A news release informing journalists of the request, sent along with a copy of the letter to newsrooms across the country, stated the following:
This program provides grants to nonprofits and houses of worship in order to enhance security through improvements to infrastructure, funding for emergency planning and training, upgrading security systems, and some renovation projects. While the program has been popular, lack of funding prompted many applicants for grants to be turned away in 2019. The coalition is calling on Congress to quadruple the total funding for the program to $360 million. From the letter:
“Each of our communities believes that respect for human dignity requires respect for religious liberty. We believe that protecting the ability of all Americans to live out their faith without fear or harm is one of the most important duties of the federal government. … These security grants benefit people of all faiths. At a time of increasing extremism and antagonism towards different religious groups and religion in general, we believe significant increased funding for this important government program in fiscal year 2021 is imperative.”
Other groups joining the letter include the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, National Association of Evangelicals, U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty, The Jewish Federations of North America, National Council of Churches in Christ in the USA, North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventists, Sikh Council for Interfaith Relations, Agudath Israel of America, and The Episcopal Church.
FBI statistics cited in the letter said that 1,244 hate crimes had been committed in 2018 against members of the various denominations in the United States. The letter also comes following a spate of attacks against Catholic churches and statues across the U.S. The acts of vandalism have largely been ignored by the mainstream secular press.
The letter was the latest beat in this ongoing story that was also ignored.
By comparison, mainstream news coverage of the Catholic faith of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett has bordered on fixation over the past few weeks. A Google News search details the long list of stories that have been written thus far.
Meanwhile, the only news outlets that reported on the anti-vandalism letter were religious news sites, the type of which I have lauded in the past for being indispensable for those who want to know what is happening in the church and, often, the wider world of religion news.
Catholic News Agency reported in the letter, adding the following context to their news account:
While Catholic churches and other houses of worship were vandalized or attacked in recent years—including deadly mass shootings at synagogues in Pittsburgh and California in 2018 and 2019—attacks have been reported all around the country over the summer and into the fall.
In September, for example, statues were toppled and destroyed at churches and cathedrals in Utah, New York, and Texas. Acts of arson were suspected, investigated, or determined at churches in Florida, Boston, and California over the summer, and statues at other churches were vandalized in Tennessee, California, and Colorado.
According to a recent EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research poll, more than 60% of Catholics surveyed said they were “very concerned” about churches being vandalized.
The Christian Post also reported on the letter. This is how they opened that report:
A diverse coalition of faith leaders has called on Congress to increase funding for a government security program for nonprofits amid a wave of vandalisms of church properties.
In a letter sent to members of Congress on Monday, the coalition asked for more funds to be directed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
The letter noted that this year, approximately $90 million was made available to nonprofits to pay for various security improvements. The coalition asked for an increase to $360 million.
The proposed amount would be split in two, with $180 million going to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program under the Urban Area Security Initiative and $180 million going to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program under the State Homeland Security Grant Program.
That was essentially it, in terms of news coverage.
It’s pretty astonishing how little attention the attacks received this past summer (and the few more that have taken place this fall), but for this letter to get zero mainstream coverage is telling. Whether this omission is intentional or not, it is a clear sign that way too many professionals in secular newsrooms don’t see the problem with churches being desecrated.
Two months ago, Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, called on U.S. Attorney General William Barr to step up efforts to end the attacks.
“The trend of desecrating Catholic spaces and property must stop,” Kennedy wrote. “I trust you are actively working to identify and prosecute those who have committed these destructive acts. I ask that you also focus your efforts on preventing such violence to both Catholic people and property.”
We know the press is interested in Catholicism as it pertains to Barrett’s nomination. The confirmation hearings, which are taking place this week, come in the wake of weeks of news coverage regarding Barrett’s membership in a charismatic group called People of Praise. The coverage has been, let’s just say, not entirely fair. (Click here for a recent GetReligion update on that, with links to several posts.)
Meanwhile, a cathedral in California was recently defaced with swastikas, an upside-down cross and “Biden 2020” spray-painted across the front.
“This morning our beloved Cathedral was defaced with pentagrams, upside down crosses, white power, swastikas, BLM, etc. It reminds us to pray for my brethren in Iraq that are facing persecution. Pray for the criminals who did this,” St. Peter’s Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in El Cajon said in a statement posted on Facebook Sept. 26.
But the lack of news coverage surrounding these anti-Christian attacks only help fuel the feeling that these journalists are engaging in some form of fake news (click here for a discussion of that complicated topic).
This is something President Donald Trump has exploited to his benefit over the past four years among his Republican base. His Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, is running on his Catholic faith as an asset. “Believers for Biden” has been very active in the digital space, but the campaign has also been silent when it comes to the vandalism.
This is a news story. Period. Where is the coverage?