PORTLAND, Ore. — Parishioners and staffers at Holy Redeemer Church in North Portland spent Friday boarding up the church.
"I'm quite concerned," parishioner Tom Markgraf said. "My family's been in this parish for over 100 years."
Markgraf's concern stems from what is planned to happen at nearby Peninsula Park late Friday. Demonstrators intend to protest the Supreme Court of the United States and its decision to overturn Roe v Wade a week ago.
"We as a church stand against the taking of an innocent life through abortion," Father Michael Belinsky said.
He worries that those views will make Holy Redeemer a prime target of those who see it a different way.
"We'd love to sit down and talk, dialogue," Belinsky said. "We'd love to have a respectful conversation and exchange of ideas."
But he fears that's unlikely, judging from what happened in the days immediately following the Supreme Court announcement.
The vast majority of the demonstrators last weekend were peaceful, but a non-profit and several other businesses in Northeast Portland's Hollywood district were damaged during the protests.
"We're sad people take destruction as a means to express their opinion," Belinsky said.
Parishioners were planning to keep vigil at the church Friday night in hopes of discouraging demonstrators, he said, but police and the archdiocese encouraged them not to do so.
"This group seems to be very violent and intent on destruction and to use things they can project or throw, things that can cause harm," Belinsky said.
Church leaders said they've been warned by both local and federal law enforcement that the church could become a target.
Belinsky is asking parishioners and others in the community to stay home and pray that the safeguards the church is putting in place will work, and that protesters show more restraint than they did last weekend.
"I think it's just mayhem and we're seeing it throughout the city, and we need to clamp down on it because it's just out of control," Markgraf said.
Holy Redeemer has hired some private security to be on site Friday night. A spokesperson from the Portland Police Bureau said officers have been in regular contact with the church and will be monitoring the protest.