Who’s burning our churches?

By Emma Younger
New Daily
April 1, 2015

http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2015/04/01/arson-attack-at-third-catholic-churcholic-churches/

It took firefighters an hour to bring the blaze under control.

The facade of St James Church remains, after the church was almost completely destroyed by fire on Monday, March 30.

Suspicious fire – the third this week – on churches linked to paedophile priests.

Another Melbourne Catholic church historically linked to a paedophile priest has been targeted in a suspected arson attack overnight.

Fire crews were called to St Mary’s Catholic Church in Dandenong at 2:30am (AEDT) by the parish’s priest, Father Declan O’Brien, who lives in a detached building.

Fr O’Brien said he was woken by the sound of smoke alarms.

“I came out of my back gate and at the windows there I could see something reminiscent of the Towering Inferno,” he said.

The Country Fire Authority’s Paul Carrigg said it was clear to firefighters that someone had broken in and set several areas of the building alight.

“When they arrived they found a number of areas of the church on fire, extensive smoke damage in some areas,” he said.

“They found a fire in a storeroom area which burnt through the floor and another fire towards the altar.

“It was evident to them that there was entry made near the front door.”

It took 40 firefighters an hour to bring the blaze under control.

Fr O’Brien said he found it sickening.

“I’m trying my best to hold onto the Christian principle of forgiveness and at the moment as a human being it’s very hard to do that,” he said.

“I can’t understand the motivation of wanting to burn a place of worship.”

The church was one of eight linked to paedophile priest Kevin O’Donnell, who sexually abused children throughout his 50-year career in Melbourne parishes.

Fr O’Brien said he did not know if the suspected arson attack was linked.

“I can understand people being angry, I just don’t get why even if they’re angry it’s justifiable that you’d attack a church building,” he said.

“I just can’t comprehend that right now, I really, really can’t.”

Some of the church’s estimated 3,000 parishioners said they were devastated and angered by the suspected arson attack.

Sharon Fonceca, who has worshipped at the church for more than 20 years, said it was the worst possible time for a fire, just days before Easter.

“Terrible because they are attacking our priests – what for when some of them haven’t done anything?” she said.

“You find them (paedophiles) all over, they’re not only the priests.

“Why should they take it out on all the priests, it’s not right … some of them haven’t done anything.”

Police are investigating if the suspicious fire is linked to two others in Melbourne’s east earlier this week.

A blaze almost destroyed the heritage-listed St James Church in Brighton on Monday morning, where paedophile priest Ronald Dennis Pickering worked from 1978–1993.

Another church where Pickering served, St Mary’s in St Kilda East, was also set alight on the same night but the fire appeared to have extinguished itself with only the door damaged.

But Detective Senior Constable Nic Hayes said the fires were being investigated separately and potential links between the three were not the focus.

“They are just churches, there’s nothing else to suggest they are linked,” he said.

“It’s being treated as a one-off fire and this is the investigation that I’m conducting.”

Constable Hayes said he could not comment on the whether police were investigating if the fires were linked to the historical sexual abuse committed by paedophilia priests at each of the churches.

But he said the Catholic Church’s plan to increase security seemed appropriate.