Firefighters tackling the blaze started by an arsonist at the University of Delaware’s Chabad Center for Jewish Life. Photo: Aetna Hose, Hook & Ladder Company.

A Catholic church at the University of Delaware is raising money for a Chabad center that was heavily damaged in a recent arson incident.

The Chabad Center for Jewish Life at the University of Delaware in Newark was set on fire the night of August 25.

The Delaware Fire Marshal’s office stated that the blaze was deliberately set and an investigation is underway.

The Catholic News Agency reported that Father Tim McIntire of St. Thomas More Oratory and chaplain at the University of Delaware’s Catholic Campus Ministry is leading a fundraising effort for the Chabad center through his church, which is across the street.

McIntire said his congregation, mainly composed of students, were extremely upset by the arson incident, and hoped to help their Jewish fellow students rebuilt the center.

“It just continues this streak of attacks on our Judeo-Christian heritage; Churches being burned, statues being destroyed and vandalized,” McIntire said. “I find it really sickening.”

McIntire told the Chabad center’s rabbi that the oratory was open to him and Jewish students who may need to use it.

Newark’s Mayor Jerry Clifton called the arson incident “heartbreaking” and “a sickening act of hostility that threatens the safety and security of our inclusive, welcoming neighborhoods.”

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden commented on the incident, “With antisemitism on the rise across the country, we all have a moral obligation to speak out and give hate no safe harbor.”