St. Dominic’s Church dedicates new statues following vandalism of originals

Nearly a year after two statues at St. Dominic’s Church, 2001 Bay Ridge Pkwy, were vandalized and destroyed, they were restored and officially dedicated following Mass on May 4.

In June 2024, statues of Pope John XXIII and Mother Teresa at the church were badly damaged allegedly by a 30-year-old man.

Father Michael Lynch of St. Dominic’s Parish told this paper that it was worth the wait.

“It feels terrific and satisfying,” he said. “It feels sort of spiritually renewing to have them back. If nothing else, we could say that goodness prevails.”

The original statues were made of fiberglass, and were unable to be repaired, which is why they had to refashion new ones made of bronze.

Lynch said that it was a long process as the statues had to be fashioned or made from artist mold, so they did clay work, and they had to send it back-and-forth to the church for approval.

Minor adjustments were made so the new statues aren’t the same as the originals, but are very similar.

“They were cast in bronze, and they had to be shipped overseas, cleared at customs, and we waited until the latter part of winter to be able to install them,” Lynch said. “It took a long period, but it was exactly what we knew was going to happen and exactly what we knew was necessary to happen.”

The church decided to go with the bronze set because the cost was similar, they are easier to protect, keep clean, and mitigate damage.

“A good part of the replacements were covered by insurance, but what was not covered by insurance was the shipping, handling, offloading and installation. Donations were made in order to cover those expenses for us,” said Lynch. “Those were parish expenses. We are grateful for a particular donation from the International Longshoremen’s Association.”

Parishioners were moved by the dedication.

“It sort of demonstrated the resilience of our community and resilience of our faith in the face of unforeseen difficulty,” Lynch said. “It was really great. They were able to support us, and for people to be patient, as it takes time to do what we needed to do for the statues. We’re happy to have them.”

Police arrested Randy Maldonado-Avila and charged him with criminal mischief and criminal possession of a weapon.

 “It was not a direct attack on the church,” Lynch claims. “It was somebody who was running through the neighborhood wielding a hammer. We just happened to be in his way.”