“You may recall that a similar outrage occurred last summer amid the sad violence afflicting American cities. At that time, I let it go, figuring I needn’t stoke the embers of anger that were burning throughout our country,” he said.

“Not this time. As a woman from The Bronx e-mailed me to say: ‘Cardinal Dolan, it’s time we learn from our Jewish and Islamic neighbors. A synagogue or mosque is defaced, and they are quick to condemn it. The governor and the mayor would join in. They’re right.’”

“So is she. This attack on Saint Patrick’s was ugly and unlawful.”

The cathedral was defiled Jan. 1 by protesters affiliated with Black Lives Matter Brooklyn and Justice for George, the New York Post reported. Police found the phrase “ACAB,” a derogatory phrase aimed at police, spray painted on the church. Dolan wrote that the cathedral stands for the sacredness of all lives, “as we are all made in God’s image and likeness”, and it also proclaims that “‘black lives matter’ in a dramatic way” through its many ministries that help black and minority men, women and children.

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