Pro-life sign at church is defaced once again

BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer

An unknown subject changed the message from pro-life to pro-choice on the sign outside Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Milltown. Both writings remained covered over last week. An unknown subject changed the message from pro-life to pro-choice on the sign outside Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Milltown. Both writings remained covered over last week. MILLTOWN — Vandals defaced a longstanding sign that proclaimed a pro-life message to all who passed Our Lady of Lourdes Church on North Main Street.

A parish member reported the issue to police Dec. 13 after noticing the sign had been spray-painted over with a pro-abortion message.

The original sign depicted Mother Teresa holding a baby, with the message “Choose life” on one side, and the other side read, “Abortion stops a beating heart.”

“It’s a gentle message, really, but apparently not gentle to some,” Deacon Robert Gerling said. “I guess ‘Choose death’ would have been less offensive — I don’t know.”

Gerling, who installed the sign and took part in funding it, is a member of both the church’s pro-life group and the Milltown Knights of Columbus. He said the cost was about $1,000.

Police have yet to apprehend anyone for the destruction of the sign, and Gerling said no one at the church knows who may have done it.

Gerling said the church’s pro-life group seeks to reach out to pregnant women in crisis and offer them alternatives to abortion. They refer the women to facilities where they can get help, he said. He and others from the group also pray and conduct outreach at abortion clinics in the area on Saturdays. They hold signs bearing messages such as “Adoption is the loving option,” he said.

“It’s not confrontational,” Gerling said. “There’s no shouting or anything like that. That’s a misperception.”

Nevertheless, the controversial issue does spark reactions from some who disagree with the group’s message. Gerling said some passersby shout negative remarks to them regarding their stance.

“One of my favorite drive-bys is ‘Get a life.’ Yeah, that’s the point,” Gerling said, adding, “Pro-lifers are made to be seen as ignorant, radical, but I’ll be honest … I hate [standing in front of the clinics].”

Gerling said the Catholic Church takes a strong anti-abortion stance, only making an exception for cases in which the baby’s birth would claim the mother’s life. According to Gerling, there is a lot of misinformation circulating on abortion, and people should do research to uncover the truth.

“It’s not our place to judge anyone,” Gerling said. “We don’t do that. We do have the obligation to tell people when they’re wrong.”

After the sign was vandalized, Gerling said, several individuals came forward offering to pay for its replacement.

“I’d prefer that it would be a parish community event — nickels and dimes, quarters and dollar bills,” Gerling said of funding the new sign.

It will not be the first time the church has had to replace the sign after incidents of vandalism. Over the course of 10 years that Our Lady of Lourdes has had a pro-life sign on its property, this is the third time it has been defaced, Gerling said. The last time it happened was five or six years ago, and the church did not press charges against the responsible party.

The Rev. Ed Czarcinski, the church’s pastor, will make the decision of whether to prosecute this offender, according to Gerling.

“The people who need the most prayer and the people who need the most help are the people who are most angry,” Gerling said. “If I was face-to-face with them, I would just talk with them. I would just ask them what angered them so in a message that said ‘Choose life.’ I would let them know that I hope they come to terms with the anger they have that caused them to do this.”