A handful of students gathered in the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Chapel on the third floor of O’Hare Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 23 to celebrate the residence hall’s first Mass of the spring semester. During the Mass, the group discovered a hot pink vape that was left under the Bible on top of the altar. The group also discovered several unconsecrated communion hosts that were broken and scattered beneath the altar.
The communion hosts, also called the Eucharist in Roman Catholicism, is an integral part of the Mass. Catholics regard the consecrated host as the presence of God. The hosts that were found scattered underneath the altar were presumed not to have been consecrated or blessed by a priest, and thus not yet revered as the Body of Christ.
Resident Assistant Benjamin Coco, FCRH ’24, who is the Campus Ministry Liaison for O’Hare, said of the event, “It was very unfortunate. The chapel was disrespected.” He also stated that while the incident was “really hurtful” to O’Hare’s Catholic residents, “we want to move forward as a building and a campus community.” Coco said he is inclined to believe the parties responsible for the vandalism acted out of ignorance, rather than malice.
AnnaMarie Pacione, FCRH ’26, agreed, saying she does not want to assume the incident was targeted. The vandalism reveals a potential lack of respect for the sacred spaces on Fordham’s campus. In light of this, Pacione also proposed that the incident “can pave the way for a teaching moment so we all can respect sacred spaces, whether it be a chapel, a synagogue, a mosque or the beautiful outdoors.”
On Wednesday, Jan. 24, the evening following the incident, the resident director for O’Hare sent out a dorm-wide community warning via email announcing that the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Chapel on the third floor of O’Hare had been vandalized. The email did not provide any details about what type of vandalism had occurred but stated that the chapel would be temporarily closed in the wake of the event.
The community warning implored students to speak with the resident director if they had any information about the incident or knew who may be responsible for the vandalism. The email also stated that “future concerns over the Chapel use… may result in community fines, especially if we cannot identify who specifically caused the issues.” So far, no dorm-wide community fine has been announced.
Prior to this event, the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Chapel was left unlocked at all hours for the use and convenience of O’Hare residents. The chapel doors have been locked since the events of last Tuesday. However, the chapel was found to be unlocked as of the night of Jan. 30. No official statement has been made announcing a change in chapel hours, and the policy regarding chapel access remains unclear. It will, however, continue to be unlocked every Tuesday at 8 p.m. for weekly Mass. Pacione said she hopes the Office of Residential Life will “decide to open the chapel soon, so O’Hare residents can enjoy the privilege of a sacred space to pray, reflect and just be in peace.”
