Anger Greets Church Picketers

Carrying picket signs that read “House of Rape” and “Stop Crucifying the Children,” a group of protesters marched outside a Roman Catholic church in Azusa on Sunday, prompting an emotional response from parishioners who yelled obscenities and blocked outsiders from entering the church.

“Go home,” shouted one parishioner at St. Frances of Rome church. “This is a place of worship. You have no place here.”

Other parishioners yelled out obscenities and insults.

One man who stood outside the church to keep out activists and the media told protest organizer Mary Grant, who said she was molested by a priest as a child, “I bet you enjoyed it, didn’t you?”

A female parishioner charged a man holding a picket sign and hit him in the chest. Police, who had been nearby monitoring the confrontation, were summoned by a protester.

Norma Arista, 42, of Azusa, was arrested for allegedly assaulting protester Jim Falls of Los Angeles.

“Sadly, this has been the posture of the church,” said Grant, who leads the Southern California Chapter of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). “To treat us as the enemy. If they blame the victim, then they don’t have to take responsibility.”

The standoff continued for several hours as parishioners walked in and out of the church. Some cursed at protesters before entering, while others stood outside holding hands to block the front steps to the church. Others, however, ignored the protesters.

Grant’s group took their campaign to raise awareness of sexual abuse by priests to St. Frances because of an investigation involving the church’s pastor, Father David F. Granadino.

Based on an anonymous call to the sexual-abuse hotline set up by the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the Sheriff’s Department launched an investigation of Granadino.

Authorities have interviewed more than 100 children at the church in recent weeks. Granadino was not at the church Sunday and has refused to comment. E-mail messages between church officials that were obtained by The Times indicate that he has denied any misconduct.

St. Frances is the latest church involved in the scandal revolving around priests who have sexually abused young people in their flock. Allegations of abuse arose in Boston earlier this year, but have since spread to churches around the nation, including several in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

The Los Angeles Archdiocese covers Catholic churches in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

On Sunday, Grant and about a dozen SNAP members gathered outside the Azusa church about 10 a.m. to march with their picket signs and hand out fliers that read, “Father Granadino has been removed for a good reason.”

Granadino is still pastor at the church, but is at a retreat, according to church officials.

“Any child that spent any time with Father Granadino is a potential victim of child molestation,” the flier continued. “Patterns of behavior to think about ....Would he buy you or your friend gifts? Ice cream? Would he take you or your friend on trips? Any overnight sleepovers?”

The flier asks that parishioners refuse to donate to church collection baskets until leaders release the name of every priest accused of molesting a child.

“We are here to let anyone know if they’ve been a victim, they are not alone,” said Grant, who received a $25,000 settlement after she accused a Los Angeles priest of raping her between ages 13 and 15.

Before the 11 a.m. Mass, Father Michael Sears asked protesters to stay off church property.

As churchgoers began to arrive, SNAP officials tried to hand out their fliers. Angry parishioners tore them up, and some tossed the shredded paper at the protesters.

“You don’t know our church,” one woman said, tears in her eyes. “I don’t believe any of this stuff. Just get out of here.”

Some of the parishioners began shouting in Spanish to SNAP member Rita Milla, prompting her to throw down her picket sign and run away in tears.

“They kept calling me a stupid idiot and a liar,” said Milla, who said she was abused by a priest 20 years ago. The father of her 19-year-old daughter is a priest, she said.

Another protester silently held her sign as a woman on her way to church began screaming vulgarities at her.

A woman who had just left Mass watched the scene and asked the churchgoer to calm down.

“We should be setting an example with our faith, not shouting inappropriate and vulgar things,” she said. Like everyone from the church, she declined to give her name.

Falls held his sign that read, “House of Rape,” as he walked by the church’s front steps. A woman ran at him and yanked at his sign.

Police arrested Arista, who was taken into custody on suspicion of battery and later released.

Inside the church, Sears and Father Roque Fernandes asked parishioners to pray for those outside, some worshipers said.

By 2 p.m., the protesters said things were getting out of hand and decided to leave.

“Isn’t it sad that we were asked to stand out on the sidewalk instead of coming into the church to share our message?” Grant said.