7th St. Louis Church Property Set on Fire in 2 Weeks
An arsonist set fire to the rectory doors of a 172-year-old Catholic church early Thursday, marking the seventh attempt to burn a place of worship in the St. Louis area in two weeks, police said.
Police Chief Sam Dotson has said the churches that have been set alight since Oct. 8 vary denominationally, and until early Thursday the fires were within a few miles of each other and in largely black neighborhoods. But the latest blaze involved a church outside the radius of the previous fires, and local media outlets reported that Shrine of St. Joseph Church's congregation is largely white.
In every case, the front doors were ignited, leaving damage that ranged from virtually nothing at one church to the near destruction of another....