Antifa Rioters Burn and Loot Churches in Chile
Masked Antifa rioters are taking the opportunity provided by the recent unrest in the South American country to burn, vandalise and desecrate historic churches.
The worst incident occurred at the Assumption of Mary parish in the capital Santiago, where black-masked antifa rioters profaned the tabernacle, destroyed religious statues, and smeared graffiti on interior walls. The anarchists pulled down the crucifix, broke it and displayed it in the street. The Antifa rioters burned, vandalised and stole religious icons from dozens of churches across the country including the Gratitud Nacional church, which is considered a national monument.
Starting on October 18, protests were sparked in the capital city, Santiago, after the government’s decision to raise ticket prices for urban transit. After outbreaks of violence that included arson, pillaging, and fare-dodging, the government announced emergency measures that included limits on travel and public meetings.
During the general breakdown in law and order that has followed, Antifa rioters have taken advantage of the disorder to attack what many of their most fanatical activists consider to be the oldest enemy of their ideology, the Catholic Church. Anarchist attacks on churches and Christians have risen in recent years. Last year, three Catholic churches were firebombed days before the visit of Pope Francis, prompting calls for calm from the left-wing then-president Michelle Bachelet. Also last year, a peaceful procession of Evangelical Christians participating in a “March for Jesus” event, which included mothers with young children, was pelted with rocks hurled by a mob of hundreds of black-masked anarchists, hospitalising a policeman and two of the marchers.
Anarchist violence against Christians is, of course, nothing new. During the Spanish Civil war (the only time Anarchists have ever come to power anywhere), the followers of this vile and destructive ideology were able to fully indulge their conspiracy theories. Anyone practicing their Christian faith was a target. The faithful were dragged from their houses by baying mobs, priests were murdered, monks tortured to death and nuns raped.
But the one thing Anarchists loved more than anything else was burning churches. In the Anarchist stronghold of Barcelona during the civil war, only one church, Gaudí’s famous Sagrada Familia, managed to survive. Even then, they still broke in and desecrated the building in 1936, burning many of Gaudí’s original models and plans, meaning later building work has required guesswork. Thanks to the Anarchists, the iconic building of Barcelona will never match the vision of the master who designed it.
In their deluded minds, anyone associated not only with the Catholic Church but also Christianity in general is part of a gigantic global plot to stop people embracing the “truth” of the anarchist revolution and the pure stateless utopia that will follow.
These are the followers of the same ideology whose Australian cousins are excused and even applauded by Australia’s media. When an Anarchist attacked former Prime Minister Tony Abbott in the street, Australia’s media class laughed. When Anarchists attacked conservative columnist Andrew Bolt two years ago, the chattering classes almost cheered. And when cowardly Anarchist murderer Jock Palfreeman was due to be released after serving a ludicrously short sentence in Bulgaria, Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi spoke at a Socialist Alliance-organised rally praising the extremist killer.
As the acceptance of left-wing extremism continues amongst the wider mainstream left, the acceptance of violence against Christians will follow. It may not be long before we have our own Antifa rioters burning places of worship here.
