LUDLOW — Pastor Ivan Cutts and his wife Jeanette Cutts of the Cathedral of Life are calling for community unification following an incident at the church on Aug. 20 when a suspect stabbed the church’s historic front doors.
During the incident, an unidentified man approached the church’s steps at 10:30 a.m., staying at the location at 51 Center St. for approximately 20 minutes, Pastor Cutts told Reminder Publishing. He noted that the incident was recorded on a security camera mounted near the door.
Cutts described how the video appears to show the suspect speaking on the phone as he approaches the church before taking out a knife and stabbing at the front doors. He stated that the door sustained four dents from the knife’s markings. In addition to the door’s damage, a package of edibles was stuck into the “51” address numbers to the left of the door, Cutts said. There were no people in the church at the time of the incident.
The Cathedral of Life celebrated its grand opening in Ludlow on March 23. The parish also has a location at 415 Winthrop St. in Taunton, Cutts said.
The Ludlow church that the parish resides in is more than 200 years old, constructed shortly after the town’s establishment, he explained. While the building later had an addition constructed, its main sanctuary chamber remains in the building from 1807. This includes the doors that were damaged in the Aug. 20 incident.
When asked about how the Ludlow community can help support the parish after the incident, Cutts emphasized the importance of “acknowledging that there is a problem” before action can be effectively taken.
He highlighted that the parish had previously experienced an incident that resulted in damage to church property in which a car drove off Center Street, damaging the “Reserved Parking” sign as well as the railing on the nearby ramp leading to the church’s doors. Cutts stated that he believed both these incidents were “prejudice [acts].”
As a “Black congregation in this community, how do I show [the parishioners] that it is safe” after these incidents, Pastor Cutts emphasized, stating that it was “not the time to be divided, but the time to be united.”
“We are better together,” he said, stating that the community should not “make light” of the incidents. “I need people to know that we are here to help [anyone].”
Similarly, Jeanette highlighted that the Aug. 20 incident was “a very violent act” and that Cathedral of Life parish “hoped to end in Ludlow” the “pockets” of racism that residents have experienced.
Since this incident, the suspect was arrested and appeared in court on Aug. 23, Ludlow Police Chief Daniel Valadas told Reminder Publishing. He stated that the suspect was charged with vandalism and damage to the church property. The suspect was then released with a future court date of Oct. 18.
He highlighted that the crime was “an anomaly incident” and that similar crimes in which places of worship were vandalized were “very infrequent” in Ludlow. Additionally, Valadas noted that the two incidents at the Cathedral of Life were not suspected to be connected or “crimes of hate.”
He encouraged residents to report similar events by calling 911 or the Ludlow Police Department.
