Raving Man Shatters Statues in Cathedral

NEW ORLEANS — A man ran amok in St. Louis Cathedral on Tuesday, shattering statues and shouting: “I am the Holy Spirit! Burn all the Bibles!” police said.

“It would take me a half-day to do what he did in 12 or 15 minutes,” said the Rev. Gerard Barrett, pastor of the cathedral on historic Jackson Square in the French Quarter. No injuries were reported, police said.

Barrett said a preliminary estimate set damages at $25,000 to $30,000. Police planned to book the man, identified as Joe Wayne Reno, 35, of Gretna, on suspicion of criminal damage of more than $10,000.

Barrett said the broken statues were priceless, with some nearly 200 years old. Also destroyed were two marble holy-water fonts believed to date from 1792, when the present cathedral was built.

Reno was taken to Charity Hospital for a psychiatric examination, New Orleans police spokesman David Adams said. “He’s the Holy Ghost. He’s a spirit from God. That’s all that he would say,” Adams said.