Fifteen religious and non-religious Quincy residents are suing Mayor Thomas Koch over recently discovered plans to install controversial Catholic patron saint statues on the front of the city’s new public safety building.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Norfolk County Superior Court with the help of the ACLU of Massachusetts on May 27, claims that the statues violate a clause in Article 3 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights stating that “all religious sects and denominations … shall be equally under the protection of the law; and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law.”
The lawsuit also alleges that Koch unilaterally decided to commission the statues, and that he and other city officials kept the plans out of the public eye for years. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars were allocated for the statues’ creation without the approval of the City Council, the suit argues.
Despite “widespread” opposition to the statues from Quincy residents and local faith leaders of various religious affiliations and beliefs, plans for the statues’ installation appear to be moving forward, according to the lawsuit.
“The City has abandoned its constitutional duty to remain neutral on matters of faith,” ACLU Senior Counsel Heather Weaver said in a Tuesday press release. “The new public safety building will be home to many critical government services, but the moment they walk in the door, Quincy residents who do not share the City’s favored religious beliefs will get the message that they are not welcome.”
Koch’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Why the public was blindsided
Plans for the new public safety building date back to 2017 when the Quincy City Council first approved money to pay for its design, according to the lawsuit. Between 2019 and 2022, the city council approved over $280 million for the project.
At some point during the development and planning of the building, it was decided that two 10-foot-tall bronze statues of Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Florian — which are the Catholic patron saints of police and firefighters, respectively — should be commissioned with the intent of having them adorn the façade of the public safety building.
“Many aspects of the building were discussed at length during public meetings. However, at no point during any of the numerous City Council meetings during which funding for the public safety building was discussed or voted on was the public notified of the plan to install statues of Catholic saints on the front of the building,” the lawsuit reads.
“Nor was the potential for public art of any kind — patron saints or otherwise — contemplated by or included in public plans or drawings of the buildings from the time of the building’s approval until February 2025.”
Instead, the public first learned about the statues through an article published in the local newspaper, The Patriot Ledger, on Feb. 8, according to the lawsuit.
During a Feb. 24 City Council meeting, Chris Walker — Koch’s chief of staff — stated that the decision to commission the statues “was ultimately and only the mayor’s decision.”
Who knew about the statues
When asked why the statues weren’t shown to city councilors when they approved funding for the building during various meetings between 2017 and 2022, Koch said that large projects such as this sometimes “evolve,” and that the idea “wasn’t on the table” when councilors cast their votes,” according to the Feb. 8 Patriot Ledger article.
Of Quincy City Council’s nine members, two told The Patriot Ledger they had no knowledge of the statues before the newspaper contacted them about it, according to the Feb. 8 article. One councilor “had heard something about it but didn’t participate in the plans,” one said they were previously aware of the plans and five did not respond to requests for comment.
During the Feb. 24 City Council meeting, Ward 1 Councilor Dave McCarthy — in whose district the new public safety building will be located — said he was told of the plan for the statues “a long time ago.” Though over 200 residents attended the meeting to object to the statues, McCarthy also said he believed the statues would “bless our first responders” and that he hoped they “might say a little prayer before they go out on duty.”
“As the statues were neither discussed in public meetings nor subject to a public procurement process nor otherwise disclosed to the public prior to February 8, it is unclear how or by whom Councilor McCarthy and some other the members of the City Council were made aware of the plan in advance of the February 8 article,” the lawsuit reads.
Ward 5 City Councilor Dan Minton — a 40-year veteran of the Quincy Police Department — wrote in a Feb. 9 Facebook post that he did not know about the statues before the Feb. 8 article and expressed concerns about the installation.
“Generally, people don’t want to enter a police station — it is usually something bad that has happened, ranging from an act of violence to a simple parking ticket. The statue may not be a welcoming presence to someone already ill at ease,” he wrote.
As of April 2025, the city has made eight payments totalling over $760,000 in public funds to pay for the statues, according to the lawsuit. The total cost of the installation is expected to come to $850,000.
Why people oppose the statues
While Catholics often call upon patron saints when praying on behalf of specific causes, other denominations and religions — including many protestant and nondenominational Christian faiths — reject the veneration of saints.
Community members of many different faiths and beliefs oppose the statues, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs in the case include Quincy residents who identified themselves as Catholic, Unitarian Universalist, Jewish, atheist and humanist, among other religious identities.
Similarly, in an April 4 statement from Quincy Interfaith Network, 19 faith leaders of a range of religious affiliations said they had “grave concerns” about the statues.
“No single religious tradition should be elevated in a publicly funded facility. Erecting these statues sends a message that there are insiders and outsiders in this community. We are confident this is not the message our City or our first responders want to send,” the statement reads.
In addition to concerns about government entities showing religious preference, Councilor Minton, the 19 faith leaders and some of the lawsuit’s plaintiffs took issue with the depiction of Saint Michael in the commissioned statue. As is commonplace with depictions of this saint, he is shown standing triumphantly over a demon.
“The violence portrayed on a heroic scale of St. Michael the Archangel is especially frightening and conjures images of police violence, which is contrary to Quincy Police Dept’s mission of public safety,” the citizen petition against the statues reads.
What’s next
The lawsuit asks the court to find that the use of public funds to pay for the statues violates state law. It also requests that a judge issue injunctions barring Koch and the city from spending additional taxpayer dollars on them or displaying them on or near the new public safety building.
The citizen petition was submitted to the mayor over 100 days ago, but he has yet to respond to it, according to Change.org.
The statues are expected to be available for installation around Labor Day, according to the lawsuit. The public safety building is set to open to the public in October 2025.
