The usually-busy Monahan plaza was silent March 21 as volumes of St. Thomas community members reflected on recent acts of religious intolerance.

Those who gathered outside the Anderson Student Center spent five minutes of silence reflecting on the recent destruction of the Ireland Hall Virgin Mary statue, a piece of moldy bread with a note reading “the body of Christ” put in its place, and an attack on two mosques in New Zealand.

“You have the power to create the change,” said Peer Minister senior Tony Preston to the group. “We must harbor that same feeling of love and peace in our hearts before spreading it to others.”

After the silence, attendees prayed the rosary with a processional through campus ending in Mary’s Garden.

The event was put on by an unofficial group of Christian students.

“I wasn’t expecting quite as many people as there were, so that was really cool to see,” said Christopher Yanta, an undergraduate attendee.

The evening before the event, the community gathered for a dialogue on religious tolerance in the Anderson Student Center’s Dorsey Way on Wednesday, March 20.

President Sullivan spoke at the beginning of the event, noting she was fortunate to have viewed the full investigation report of the incident.

“This is a hurtful incident but it was not committed out of bias,” Sullivan said, explaining that the person who dropped the statue is a confirmed member of a Christian faith.

“This person was very drunk, this person did something extremely disrespectful and did something insensitive and hurtful. When incidents like this happen in our community… we’re called to go back to our faith, our convictions and think about what we can learn,” Sullivan continued.

St. Thomas community members expressed frustrations with religious intolerance they had experienced in the past and the university’s response to the incident while also providing ideas for solutions.

Emily Haugen can be reached at haug7231@stthomas.edu