The prior of the Black Abbey is praying for the vandals who damaged a statue of St Dominic outside the city's historic abbey over the weekend.
The five-foot high statue of the founder of the Dominican order, which stands in a walled garden in the gr
ounds of the abbey, was pulled from its plinth sometime on Friday night or Saturday morning. It is believed that the perpetrators scaled the iron railing and used a scarf to topple the saint.
The abbey's prior, Fr Louis Hughes, has decided to leave the broken statue on the ground until the end of Holy Week.
"There are two reasons why we decided to leave the statue on the ground. It symbolises the falling of Jesus which happened three times before he was crucified and it also represents our own brokenness, pain and hurt.
"The fallen statue also shows the need for forgiveness before healing can begin. I have unreservedly forgiven the people who have done this and I am sorry for them. They are obviously very confused and are carrying a lot of pain in themselves. The act caused some of our members a great deal of pain but we have forgiven them and are praying for these people," he said.
Help on the way
Local contractors have contacted the abbey with an offer of help. "One contractor has offered to re erect it and hopefully this will be done next Monday and another contractor has offered to clean and paint the statue," he told the Kilkenny People.
Once this work has been completed a special ceremony will take place at the abbey.
The last time a statue was vandalised at the abbey was in 1650 when Cromwell and his army destroyed a wooden statue of St Dominic.
Gardai in Kilkenny are investigating the incident and anyone with information is asked to contact them on (056) 7775000.
The Black Abbey was built in 1225 and restored in 1866.
