Fake Bomb Doesn’t Faze Faithful at Church Destroyed by Arsonist

As she stood in the field next to the rectory of St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church in Fullerton, Agnes Rus did not notice the patchy grass around her Wednesday. Instead she imagined a different scene and, with quick waves of her hands, began to describe it.

“This is where the pews will be and here is where the fountain is going to be,” said the church receptionist and parishioner. “And over there is going to be a nice plaza were people will sit and talk.”

Though St. Philip has held services in a large tent on a nearby lot since an arsonist destroyed the church three years ago, the congregation has grown since the disaster. Like Rus, most parishioners are focused on rebuilding St. Philip, which is on South Pine Drive, instead of lamenting the fire or dwelling on the hardships they have had to endure.

That resolve has been tested again.

At 8 a.m. Tuesday, parish secretary Mary Deisenroth discovered a suspicious object on the doorstep of the church office. At first, she thought the 8-inch-long device with a small ticking clock attached was a toy. But pastor Ignatius Kissel -- mindful of the arson -- wanted to alert police.

Police and officers with the Orange County sheriff’s bomb squad evacuated the offices, sealed off the street in front of the rectory and destroyed the object with a small explosion in a sealed container. Authorities said the object was a fake, but that it looked real enough to raise concern.

“It was made to look like a real bomb,” said Fullerton police spokesman Sgt. Ron Gillett.

The bomb hoax was the third in a series of incidents since 2000. The first, a minor fire started in a classroom by young vandals in May of that year, caused $13,000 damage. The more serious arson, which was apparently unrelated, occurred three months later, gutting the church.

The arson was never solved, and though law enforcement officials said there is no indication that the fire and the fake bomb are related, the possibility has been raised.

“There is obviously a concern, but there’s no concrete lead at this point and our detectives are going to follow up,” Gillett said.

Kissel and members of his congregation say they will react to this latest trial as they have in the past: by standing by their church.

“If the fire couldn’t drive the congregation away, this isn’t going to do it,” Kissel said.

“We are a really resilient people and have weathered so many obstacles that this is just one more thing,” said Chuck Andersen, St. Philip’s music director.

Since the last fire, St. Philip has lost about 200 of its 8,045 members who could not endure the uncomfortable conditions of the tent where services -- five on Sunday alone -- have been held, Kissel said. The inside of the tent, which can hold more than 750 people, gets uncomfortably cold, and noise -- such as from airplanes landing at and taking off from nearby Fullerton airport -- can drown out services, Kissel said.

But 300 new members have joined over the same time, Kissel said. They will be rewarded next year with completion of a $5.1-million church on which construction is to begin in the summer.

Parishioners, including one who donated the proceeds of the sale of a plot of land, raised almost $2 million, and the Diocese of Orange will pay the rest. The more than 18,000-square-foot facility will be able to hold 1,000 worshipers, Kissel said. They will need the extra space, Kissel said, because the church expects to grow.