Skyline view of Buenos Aires, Argentina. / Credit: Sebasiddi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov 4, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).

The destruction of an image of Our Lady of Luján, the patroness of Argentina, and the burning of a chapel has shocked two communities in Argentina. Authorities are currently investigating the acts of vandalism. 

Father Lucas Arguimbau, a priest at St. Cajetan Shrine, a church in Buenos Aires, announced Nov. 2 that the outdoor small shrine to the Blessed Mother located down the street was the target of vandalism this past weekend in which the image of Our Lady of Luján kept there was smashed to pieces.

The news shocked the community, as the small shrine is located in a busy area monitored by security cameras and near a police station. A woman who lives in the neighborhood found fragments of the destroyed image and brought them to the shrine.

After the 11 a.m. All Souls’ Day Mass on Nov. 2 at St. Cajetan’s, the parochial vicar said: “A neighbor brought us the hands of the statue of Our Lady of Luján, which someone had attacked at the shrine at the corner of Juan B. Justo and Cuzco streets,” as reported by the news site La Nación.

The image of the patroness of Argentina was kept in an outdoor shrine protected by a grille and glass, and served as a gathering spot for the community on special occasions.

After Mass, Arguimbau, accompanied by the parochial vicar, a seminarian, and some laypeople, went to the scene of the incident where, in addition to the broken glass and the destroyed statue of Our Lady, they found a statue of St. Cajetan lying on the ground. A crucifix was undamaged.

Although no report had been filed in previous attacks, this time the priest decided to file one at Police Station 10B, where he also took the remains of the statue.

Arguimbau led a simple act of reparation at the site: “We are going to ask God to bless this place again, and we pray especially for those who come to the shrine, for those who broke the image of the Virgin. We ask that God bless us, protect our neighborhood, and grant us peace in our hearts, as St. Cajetan always did, in good times and bad, sowing good,” he said. He then blessed the site with holy water, and those present prayed a Hail Mary.

Following the incident, St. Cajetan Shrine is studying ways to reinforce the security and protect the nearby small shrine, while the investigation continues to identify the attackers using images captured by security cameras.

Chapel fire

The attack on the small shrine was not the only one reported in Argentina last weekend, which coincided with Halloween. In the city of Pehuén-Co, in southern Buenos Aires province, Holy Family Chapel was completely destroyed by a fire, the cause of which is under investigation.

In an interview with El Rosalenio, Father Adán Caraballo, who is in charge of the Sacred Heart community and Holy Family Chapel in Pehuén-Co, explained that they are still assessing what happened, especially since graffiti with the number “666” among others were found after the fire.

“The church could have burned down at any other time of year, and it just so happens on this day, and the graffiti appears on this very day. Of course, we understand it from a faith perspective, as too delicate of a situation that has become so widespread globally, trivializing something that should never be trivialized like the night of the witches, like Halloween and all that,” he pointed out.

“We understand it as something serious, but we hope it’s just a prank by someone who saw the church burning and said, ‘Let’s put this on it,’” he said, referring to the graffiti.

“The people who have served so much over the years at the chapel are now saddened to see it destroyed,” he lamented, indicating that the fire started from inside, although the investigation is still underway.

While the community is deeply saddened, the priest highlighted the support and “incredible generosity” of those who have come forward to help restore the chapel.

He also reported that the tabernacle “was intact, Jesus was intact, the Eucharist was intact,” which he considered “a miraculous sign.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.