Church Burning

Neighborhood kids cross Fenkell Avenue in front of St. Christine's former church and parish hall. click photo above to go to Archdiocese article on Church arson A charred statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, originally in a side chapel of the church, lies on the floor of the sacristy of the closed St. Christine Church on Detroit's west side.

Detroit – It saddens a community when a parish is closed. And to have a closed church fall prey to arson and apparent sacrilege only adds to the heartbreak. But that's what happened at the former St. Christine Church on the west side of Detroit on April 20. When an unknown arsonist or arsonists broke into the church building, lit a fire and burned a portion of the church and a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, they appeared to have done as much damage to the hearts of long-time parishioners as they did to the building.

"It made me feel really bad and pretty disgusted that somebody would do something like that to us," she said. "We have a soup kitchen, all the outreach programs, and I'm just disgusted that someone could do this."

"It's between whoever did it and God," said Perry. "They have to answer to God.… I pray for them."