LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church reopened its doors Tuesday for a noon mass for the first service since the church was vandalized Sunday evening.
Fr. Paul Beach said he received a call around 11:30 p.m. that someone was breaking into the church and causing damage.
When he arrived, he said the altar had been destroyed. Marble was chipped, and the crucifix thrown on the ground.
Beach said 35-year-old Romaric Koumgang was responsible for the vandalism and that he was someone that had routinely attended the church before for worship. Beach said prior to this, the man had not acted out in an alarming way. Koumgang was arrested Tuesday afternoon.
Romaric Koumgang
"He had tremendous physical strength to be able to do so much damage with his bare hands," Beach said.
Beach is urging the community to pray for the man, as he believes he is struggling with mental illness.
"We are a church who is in the midst of the city — and it's not something that is unknown to us — people who struggle in lots of different ways with mental health, addiction," Beach said.
Beach said a security guard on the property when it happened called police, who arrived and took the man into custody.
Beach estimates tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage was done but said they will get through the tough time through prayer. He said it took about 10-12 hours Monday to clean up the mess.
"Everything can be replaced and repaired, said Beach. "It's just things that we're talking about, and we're grateful for that. This is plaster and marble, there's something far more precious to all of us here and that's our faith and that's intangible."
Doors on the outside of the church that were damaged on Sunday will remain closed until they can be repaired, but worshipers can still access the church from side doors 24 hours, 7 days a week. Beach said the doors that were damaged are closed during certain periods overnight.
"We help one another and we love one another. That's something that is at the heart of our identity and who we are and who we want to be and strive to be," said Beach.
The church was closed Sunday until Tuesday afternoon while people worked to clean up the vandalism.
Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
