NEW YORK (AP) – According to police, last week someone entered the altar of a New York church, stole a $ 2 million gold relic and removed himself from an angel statue.
The incident occurred between 6:30 pm Thursday and 4 pm Saturday at the Roman Catholic church of St. Augustine, known as Notre Dame in the Brooklyn Park Sloop district.
The church was then closed for construction. The church pastor said camera tapes were also stolen from the church’s security system.
The diocese of Brooklyn called it a “blatant crime of disrespect and hatred”.
The diocese says one or more thieves cut the protective metal casings and made the curtain since the church opened in the 1890s.
Police and the diocese said the tent, a box containing sacred communion items, was made of 18-carat gold and decorated with jewelry. It cost $ 2 million.
The diocese says it is irreplaceable for its historical and artistic value.
According to the guide posted on the church’s website, the tabernacle was built in 1895 and rebuilt in 1952 and 2000.
It has been described as “a masterpiece and one of the most expensive tents in the country, protected by its own security system,” which includes “electrically operated anti-theft safes” and steel plates with an inch thickness ” fully enclosed in the tent.. “
Statues of angels were cut near the tent and broken, the diocese said. The altar safe was also opened, where the priests were preparing for the service, but not inside.
The Holy Eucharist, the bread blessed in the body of Christ, was taken from the tabernacle and thrown on the altar.
“This is disastrous because the Tabernacle is the central focus of our church beyond worship, containing the body of Christ, the Eucharist, delivered to the sick and homeless,” the Rev. Fr. Frank Tumin, pastor of St. Augustine. In a statement issued by the diocese.
“Knowing that a thief has entered the holiest space of our beautiful church and suffered extreme hardship in the security system is disrespectful,” Tumino said.
Source: Huffpost
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