By Gretchen Keiser

A 28-year-old Rockmart man has been taken into custody by Cedartown police charged with draping three six-foot-long signs outside St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church recently that accused the church of being the anti-Christ.

The man, identified by police as Charles Hamilton Hayth, was arrested after he phoned St. Bernadette’s pastor, Father Pat Bishop, and came to the rectory to speak to the priest late on July 7. Earlier that day news media in Polk County had begun broadcasting interviews with Father Bishop and anti-Catholic signs that were left at the church during daylight hours on Wednesday, July 2, Friday, July 4, and Sunday, July 6.

All three of the signs quoted the King James version of the Bible in the book of Revelation, saying: “Mystery, Babylon the great, mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.”

The text and similar messages are frequently used in virulently anti-Catholic tracts and pamphlets.

After the third sign appeared in less than a week, each carefully painted in red and left draped over St. Bernadette’s lawn sign, Father Bishop said he “decided to inform the local press” in order to bring to the attention of the people of Cedartown the fact that the incidents were taking place, that they were happening in daylight and that an appeal was being made to anti-Catholic sentiment.

“I’m asking the people of Cedartown to help us preserve the sanctity of this place of worship,” Father Bishop said, “I’m asking the good people of this town to help the good people of this parish.”

Father Bishop said the incident appeared “to be isolated” and not occurring at other churches in the area. “I believe someone is making an appeal to prejudices that exist in rural Georgia,” said Father Bishop, who is a Georgia native who grew up in Marietta and has been pastor in Cedartown since 1983.

After he was contacted at the rectory by the suspect and spent about an hour talking to him, Father Bishop notified the police and the arrest was made.

Father Bishop said the suspect told him he had served in the Army and allegedly acknowledged leaving all three signs. The man accused Catholics of worshipping idols, worshipping Mary, moving the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, wrongly elevating the pope, and other actions, Father Bishop said.

Hayth has been charged with vandalism of a place of worship, a misdemeanor, and making terroristic threats, a felony. According to Chief William Moss of the Cedartown police department, a bail hearing has not been held pending a psychiatric examination of the suspect at Northwest Regional Hospital in Polk County.

The decision to press charges was made after consultation with police officials and Monsignor John McDonough, vicar general of the archdiocese, Father Bishop said.

Among the concerns were statements allegedly made by the suspect that he intended to take further action if the signs were ignored, and if he were prosecuted.

However, in addition to concern for the safety of the parishioners and the church building, Father Bishop said that he was also concerned for the well-being of the suspect. Hayth, he said, “is sincere and he is confronting what he sees as the Beast,” or anti-Christ described in the Book of Revelation.

“I’m very concerned about what happens from here,” Father Bishop said. “I’m concerned about what happens to the kid. I’m concerned about possible future confrontations.”

He also saw the incident as indicative of a deeper, anti-Catholic sentiment that exists in the public mind and that, he believes, is not challenged forcefully enough by Catholics.

Often people choose to ignore “seemingly harmless bigoted remarks by people in the street, the pulpit, on TV,” he said. But these remarks “fan the fires of sick people.”

“I think for too long the Church sat back and said, ‘Okay, take a potshot,’” he said.

“We Catholics can’t just sit back and allow the attack on the Church by the media and other people.”