A statue of Mary in Sacred Heart Cathedral in Suva, Fiji, was vandalized on Nov. 11.
The statue was located in a grotto in front of the church, and CCTV footage showed a man throwing a block at the statue at around 5:30 in the morning.
The attack broke off the head of the statue.
Police arrested the suspect, and describing him as “of unsound mind.”
“While this incident is a concern for Catholics, I am asking Catholics to be compassionate to the ‘mentally challenged man’ who may not really know what he is doing,” Archbishop Peter Loy Chong said in a statement.
“Blessed Mother Mary went through uncertain times as she walked beside Jesus to be killed in Calvary. Mary bore the sufferings and maltreatment of his son Jesus. Mother Mary help us to understand your sufferings and help us to live in uncertain times,” Chong added.
A donor has already offered to buy a new statue of Mary for the grotto.
