SAN ANTONIO -- A man arrested June 24 in connection with a string of 14 church fires told arson investigators he was on a "divine mission," according to the Express-News.

Jesus Arturo Barraza Jr. told investigators he believed Jesus Christ was watching over him when he was able to avoid suspicion, the newspaper reported.

His 6 1/2 -page statement detailed his involvement in 10 arson fires at metropolitan area churches since Memorial Day.

"I was not trying to hurt anyone when I was setting these churches on fire," Barraza said in his statement. "I was just trying to make people think about ‘God' instead of ourselves and our possessions."

He was arraigned on a single count of arson and was being held on a $500,000 bond.

The newspaper reported Barraza told investigators he became convinced he was on a divine mission when police failed to question him at the scene of one fire.

He told investigators he had cut his hand and spilled accelerant on himself but went unnoticed by police at the scene.

"I knew that ‘Jesus' was watching over me or else the cops would have stopped me and asked how I got blood on myself and why I smelled like accelerant that I bought at Texaco," the statement said.

Agents from the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were assisting the Bexar County fire marshal and police departments from San Antonio, Windcrest and Converse in the search for the arsonist.

Local pastors, fearful of the string of arson fires, were taking additional precautions. (See related story, Church fires alarm pastors.) Church leaders had asked congregations to report suspicious vehicles, asked for regular police patrols and at one church, bushes that the arsonist presumably used to hide were being removed.