Fire destroys Catholic church on first anniversary of Dobbs decision
A fire destroyed the interior of a Roman Catholic Church in Orlando, Florida, on the one-year anniversary of the United States Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that decided there is no right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution, inviting speculation that it was a deliberate attack as the cause of the blaze remains unknown.
The Incarnation Catholic Church announced on its Facebook page Sunday that “the Church building caught fire last night.” The social media post encouraged parishioners to “attend other parishes” in the area while noting that only one Sunday mass would take place in nearby Royal Hall that day. A statement published on the church’s website explained that “no further information is available on the cause at this moment,” adding that “any updates that may be shared on this matter will be made available here.”
In an interview with local news outlet WKMG News 6, the Rev. William Holiday described the interior of the church following the blaze as “destroyed” and expressed gratitude that the building was empty at the time of the fire. He told the news outlet that “we did lose some paintings and some statues and things like that.”
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“There was a picture of the blessed virgin Mary in there in one of the more heavily damaged [areas] and it did not have a mark on it,” Holiday added.
When asked if the church had been “targeted,” Holiday responded, “I wouldn’t even want to conjecture. We’re just going to move on,” he added, insisting that if the fire was “just circumstantial, that’s in God’s providence” and “if it was possibly intentional, that’s in God’s providence also.”
In a Monday Facebook post, Incarnation Catholic Church announced that all masses will take place at their normally scheduled times in the Royal Hall for the foreseeable future. The church will still offer confessions at the normally scheduled times, although the location where the sacrament of reconciliation will take place with the church out of commission has not yet been determined. All social events scheduled to take place in the venue have been canceled for the time being.
The fire took place at around 11:30 p.m. Saturday and firefighters believe that it originated in the back of the church. Saturday marked the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. The Dobbs opinion sparked outrage from pro-abortion activists and led to churches and pro-life pregnancy centers finding themselves subject to varying degrees of vandalism, including arson in some cases.
Earlier this year, a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida indicated pro-abortion activists on federal charges for defacing a pro-life clinic in nearby Winter Haven. Both pro-life clinics and Catholic churches have become the targets of pro-abortion vandals due to their outspoken opposition to abortion.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
