$25K+ in damage at Church of the Gesu as parish focuses on recovery after vandalism
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - One week after a shocking act of vandalism inside the Church of the Gesu, church leaders are now focused on recovery while facing more than $25,000 in damage.
Michael Simone, the church’s pastor, said the moment was jarring for the entire parish.
“It was quite a shock when it happened,” he said.
The damage spans both levels of the church, with chairs, candle holders, and multiple statues damaged.
“For people who have been parishioners here for a long time, there's a sense of violation that our space was treated like that,” he said.
Several statues were left in pieces, including a donated St. Anne statue. Now, the church is working to see what can be restored.
Simone said he’s hopeful restoration experts can salvage at least some of the damage.
“You can bring them a bag full of chips, and they can piece something back together again in a way that looks beautiful, so that’s our hope,” he said.
Church members are hoping to preserve as much as possible.
“We saved as much as we could. There were individual fingers that were knocked off, but we gathered all those together with the pieces that were here,” Simone said.
Still, not everything may be repairable.
“There were a number of statues in the lower church that were destroyed. They were plaster and wood and might be a lot more challenging to piece back together,” he said.
Despite the damage, Simone said the community has remained strong, with many continuing to attend services.
“We had exceptional crowds of people who joined us for worship, and it was good to see no one's afraid to be down here,” he said.
As repairs move forward, the church is also taking steps to prevent something like this from happening again, while staying true to its mission of being open to the public.
“Leaving the doors open during the day is something this parish is really committed to, and we’re going to find a way to do it better, we’re going to find a way to increase our security,” Simone said.
The Church of the Gesu is accepting donations on their website to replace some of the items that were damaged and to restore and renovate the upper church.