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LDS Church issues apology in missionary vandalism case

As a Mormon, I want to express my condolences to the members of the Sangre de Christo community. Please know that the actions of these foolish missionaries do not reflect the views of the Mormon community at large. Mormons respect Catholics, with whom we have worked closely in many social and humanitarian projects.

So then, let me get this straight: the LDS Church and Photobucket have both quickly issued statements to protect their legal interests -- before the five most interesting questions even get answered

who posted the photos?

Why would that person post such photos?

How do authorities know the photos are genuine and connected to these particular elders?

what factual evidence exists that these three missionaries did in fact do what they are accused of? This is the really interesting question. We are assuming that authorities dusted the statue for fingerprints. So did they?

"Bias induced crime -- there is a PC laugh. If the authorities prosecuted all the Bias-induced religious mockeries of Catholicism posted on YouTube Webshots and PhotoBucket, they would be busy indeed.

Incidentally, how does a major desecration of a religious icon go unnoticed from 2006 to the present day? The writers need to double check this particular item.

for all the good missionaries everywhere.But to post this desercration with such arrogance just brings home the pt. that not one of them learned a lesson. I know of some missionaries who scraped by to be able to go on missions, just waiting their whole lifetimes. Also the young man who was from the Potter family of North Summit who died after giving his farewell, just the magnitude of love for service was there. Let us all pray both member and non member alike to acknowledge the creator and start the healing process as we recognize this as a grave wrong to fellow human beings. Protect all missionaries of all faiths as there seems to be a division forthcomming amongst good people. Do not use this to destroy what the creator would want as many have left a legacy to follow in all religions. Maybe it is time for all churches to reconcile our differences and give to the creator his devine message of Peace. Let us take time to acknowledge the worth of all and go with the task at hand in the most upmost manner as the Savior would want!His true followers will reveal themselves!

Its unfortunate that this occurred. Missionaries are generally respectful. I will be interesting to see what turns up in the investigation.

The church has acted quickly in this case. I was a little surprised to hear that the missionary still serving, was sent home. Good public relations are important to any organization. There is no evidence that the missionaries vandalized the statue, or just found it that way. Regarding the pictures, young men can do silly things without intending harm.

While this incident is unfortunate, good will come out of it. The shrine will be repaired, relationships mended, and missionaries will be reminded of the importance of appropriate behavior.

Another lesson for all of us of the LDS Faith that our actions have consequences. The bar for full time missionaries was raised for a reason. This senseless act just destroys relationships that have taken so long to build. My personal feeling is these young men need to be the ones to pay for repairs. I am sure the local Ward and Branch units will serve the church in whatever capacity they may to continue RE-building these relationships. Shame on you young men.

There are jerks in all churches. Let the church that is perfect cast the first stone.

You must have missed the letter of apology and confession from one of the missionaries who was a part of it (mentioned in other articles). So you have pictures and their word. What more do you want, video?

Hey, how about everyone relax a bit. People don't just get some kind of guilty verdict passed down from the LDS leaders. They always have a chance to defend themselves. Heck, I was disfellowshiped a long time ago, and they gave me every chance to defend myself, or whatever I felt was necessary. If they were disciplined by the LDS church, it's because they either admitted to it, or there was enough proof against them t hand down some kind of discipline, so before you get all up in arms defending them, and the whole innocent before proven guitly, realize that at least according to church courts (which doesn't mean they broke a law, just that they exhibited conduct unbecoming an Elder in the church)...according to the church courts, they did SOMETHING wrong. If it was two years ago I'd have to believe that they came out and took responsibility for whatever their part was (big or small, we don't know). In reality, if they were disciplined, they did something, and they are probably taking some kind responsibility for it. Lay off. They were (and probably still are) young boys.

The behavior of these missionaries was not very bright, to say the least. If they did vandalize the shrine, they should pay the legal price, whatever it may be. That said, most missionaries I've met/known would not act like this. A very unfortunate incident.

Rightascention seems to think there is some kind of conspiracy going on, I guess. Seems like the guys involved in this know what is going on, especially since the Mission President delivered an apology to the Catholics from one of the missionaries. While we don't know if the three caused the damage, it would probably be a good idea for the LDS Church to work with the Catholics on getting everything repaired. And maybe those three guys can spend a year or two doing service work for their local Catholic church. That might teach them something.

This is a very unfortunate event indeed. As a Mormon I apologize to anyone offended by these senseless actions. I hope that people will realize that this is not representative of the way Mormons behave in the vast majority of circumanstances. My guess is that these young men were 19 or 20 and particularly immature even for their age. It's too bad. I was sorry to see that one of them had their mission terminated. This was indeed an unfortunate incident, but we are a people who believe in forgiveness. This would have been a very strong teaching moment for the young man involved. Perhaps there were other circumstances that were not made public that warranted the termination. I hope so. Because I'd hate to see someone's life and reputation permanently damaged for the sake of political expediency. I hope we can all heal from this unfortunate incident and do all we can to demonstrate tolerance and love for those who believe differently than we do.

He wants it to be completely forgotten since it happened to someone elses property and not his.

There is no conspiracy here, just some 19-20 year olds not thinking straight. They will be taught there lesson from the church and the law. There is no excuse for this behaviour. Unfortunately for them they will always be remembered as the idiots who did such a horribly atrocious act.

We who live among the LDS need no apology. We are used to the behavior and the ostraciztion. No apologies needed as I think enough humility has been done on this day.

I am sad to see this as a returned missionary and LDS member. I feel embarrassed by these moronic actions. I have a wonderful uncle that is Catholic and I horrible that our missionaries would do something like this.

I think this is a great lesson for members and missionaries. It's pretty simple. Don't do stupid stuff.

This is very sad, very sad, we all make mistakes, just that when it's us it's magnified. Should never have happened to begin with.

To rightascension,

There are many questions that are not answered, but that does not mean there is not guilt. The damage was not discovered until the photos actually showed the damage and it was confirmed. Read the article again more carefully.

It is best to leave it to the authorities and the LDS Church to punish the offenders.

To to rightascension,

The letter of appology referred to in the other article did not confess to decapitating the statue, but to mocking the sacred sites. This alone is enough to receive punishment from the LDS Church.

Was the statue already damaged? Could be, heck it took 1 1/2 yrs to figure out it was damaged now. However, because it appears the missionaries did this the Church will seek to make amends since they were offical representatives of the LDS Church at the time.

The LDS Church likely will not face a lawsuit because the leaders did not sanction it or give instructions to act the way the missionaries did. Also they have contacted the parish and will do all they can to make the parish whole.

The missionaries will likely face legal issues as a result of their actions.

This seems hypocritical of the Church. If the same thing had happened and the media hadn't gone national with it these missionaries would have gotten their hands slapped. So their crime was letting it go national?

If they broke the statue they should be charged, sneaking funny pictures in the Catholic Church is done by every altar boy from here to Botswana.

I've never understood why some LDS buy into the old Protestant anti-Catholic animosity, since Catholicism probably has more beliefs in common with us than most Protestant strains (need for priesthood authority, importance of works along with faith, e.g.). You never hear of Protestant churches being ridiculed thusly; but I well recall, years ago on my mission in a Catholic country, being shown photos some of our elders had taken of themselves acting disrespectfully inside a Catholic Church. In point of fact, most of what we call Western Civilization was birthed by the Catholic Church and associated culture -- art, architecture, universities, and so forth. Without the diligence of those Medieval Catholic monks, we would have no record of the Savior's mortal life, or the writings of the apostles, or of many other things. For all its mistakes, Catholicism has been -- and remains -- a great civilizing vehicle, and it's high time we LDS did a better job acknowledging that. If we did, this kind of hooliganism might never happen again.

While you are right that the LDS leaders did not (nor would ever) sanction such an event. These young members are essentially employees or representative of the larger group. Sad but it is not as simple as you would believe. This is ab lack eye for all LDS and culture we are raising with our future-- Perhaps it is time the missionary age is raised to that of mature people bacause I do not thing a 19 year can handle the world or take into context the task at hand.