Fire Makes the Faithful Ask Why

They huddled outside the red-brick church where they had expected to attend morning Mass. Some shook their heads and said little. Others pointed toward the St. Justin statue and the cracked windows.

From where they stood the only signs of the Sunday fires at St. Justin Martyr Roman Catholic Church in Anaheim were the yellow police tape and broken glass, but it was clear that the suspected arson rattled them.

“It’s only hitting me today,” said William Torres, 40, of Anaheim, who has attended services there for four years.

There were three fires in and around the 47-year-old church. Inside, the damage was mostly in the choir loft and the rear. Officials estimated the damage at $500,000.

“We’re lucky the most important thing in our church is saved: the tabernacle,” said Pam Young, 60, also of Anaheim and a 30-year member. “That would have been an outrage.”

Catholics believe Jesus is embodied in consecrated bread, which is stored in a gold-colored bowl, behind a locked glass door, known as the tabernacle. The tabernacle, the statues and all 12 wooden Stations of the Cross were saved, but church operations have been disrupted.

Outside, bright pink and yellow signs gave directions to nearby Catholic churches. A funeral scheduled for Tuesday was moved to another parish.

Some congregants learned of the fire when they arrived for the 8:30 a.m. Mass. “That person is a sick person,” said Rafael Gutierrez, 60, of Anaheim as he stared at the church’s charred roof.

Father Joseph Nettekoven said a brief prayer outside the police tape.

One man muttered, “I pray and hope that whoever did this ... “ as he slipped a donation into Nettekoven’s hand.

“That’s not important,” Nettekoven told him. “What’s important is us all getting back together again.”

The three fires may be related to two dozen recent fires within three miles of the church recently, said Maria Sabol of the Anaheim Fire Department.

The church’s roof tiles may have been made from asbestos, Nettekoven said. The church and rectory were closed Tuesday as workers cleaned up

“So we’re getting our dishes cleaned for free,” he joked.

With their electricity out and the rectory closed, Nettekoven and the three other pastors cannot send e-mails, call members or update their website, Nettekoven said. The church has 4,000 registered families, and about 500 people typically attend morning Mass, he said.

“This defies any sense of reason or compassion,” he said as he sat in a chair, taking a break from meeting with church and fire officials and answering frantic calls on his cellphone.

“If it was someone who wanted to burn down a sacred space, that’s very serious business,” he said.

Margaret Mueller, 78, who has attended the church since its first year, felt sympathy for Nettekoven. “It must be a big shock for him,” she said. “We’re such a close family over there for all these years and then you see what crazy people are doing today.”

Nettekoven recently had triple bypass heart surgery, church members said, and was on vacation Monday morning when he learned of the fire and returned. At Sunday’s services, he said, members will decide whether Mass will be celebrated on the soccer fields behind the church or in the church hall.

“We have to remember that it’s just a building, just a structure,” he said. “It just holds a lot of memories.”