Posted on 09/14/2009 9:55:03 AM PDT by NYer
BERLIN – The prayers of the city's Catholic parish offered 10 months ago after its church was vandalized and religious items stolen were answered over the weekend with their recovery from the Androscoggin River.
"That's a minor miracle in itself," said Merle Albert, the deacon at the century-old Good Shepherd Parish, formerly called St. Anne Church.
Early last November, parishioners came to church one Sunday morning to find a heartbreaking sight: tipped over furniture, discharged fire extinguishers and broken candles. Worse was the discovery that the Blessed Sacraments -- so important to the church and its parishioners -- and several historic artifacts were stolen.
On Saturday morning, when Public Service of New Hampshire drew down the water level on the stretch of the Androscoggin River behind the Berlin District Court, a worker discovered the artifacts.
"He found a black duffle bag, and all the items were accounted for," said Berlin police Detective Richard Plourde. "I guess that's why we never came across them online."
But after being immersed in the water for nearly a year, the artifacts did not fare well.
"The monstrance was broken apart, detached from its base," said the Rev. Jeffrey Statz, associate pastor at Good Shepherd Parish. "It may be possible to fix it, but it depends on the cost."
The discovery, which drew cheers and relief when parishioners learned the news at Masses celebrated over the weekend, brought to an end what Plourde said had been an intensive search for months.
"We had been aggressively looking online for three or four months after it happened, looking on eBay, but we never came across them," he said. "We had been in touch with metal dealers and came up with nothing. We assumed these items were being hidden, and it turned out they were a lot closer than we expected."
Investigators had feared that the gold pieces -- valued in the tens of thousands of dollars -- would be broken down and melted for cash. It appears, he said, that some of the diamonds on the monstrance had been pried off.
One of the missing artifacts from the vandalism was a relic of St. Anne.
"It appears that that's intact," Plourde said.
The investigation will continue now, he said
"Now we're going to call in the state police forensics lab to go over the items," he said. "We're going to keep plugging away."
Some "people of interest" have been identified since the November vandalism incident, he said, but no arrests have been made.
For the parishioners, "it was a great day that brought them closure," said Statz, who went to the riverbank shortly after the items were discovered to see them.
"Unfortunately, there is some damage, but ultimately, they've been found, and that has given people a great sense of consolation," Statz said.
Good news ping!
The vandalism makes me sad and angry, the find is joyous.
An attack on Catholics is an attack on all Christians.
The vandalism makes me sad and angry, the find is joyous.
&&&
I am always puzzled to learn of such acts. What is it about such scumbags that makes them take pleasure in destruction?
At first, I thought this church was in Germany. It helps when the state’s name is added in parentheses.
vandalism of churches is usually based on the fact that the thieves assume that chalices,patens, tabeernacles etc are solid gold.....that may have been the case years ago, but modern vessels are gold plated....basically very pretty, but valued only for what they are, not what they’re made of.It may take a few hundred dollars to replace most vessels, but certainly not the thousands they would cost if pure gold ($1,000 per ounce)..lots of luck
vandalism of churches is usually based on the fact that the thieves assume that chalices,patens, tabernacles etc are solid gold.....that may have been the case years ago, but modern vessels are gold plated....basically very pretty, but valued only for what they are, not what they’re made of.It may take a few hundred dollars to replace most vessels, but certainly not the thousands they would cost if pure gold ($1,000 per ounce)..lots of luck
vandalism of churches is usually based on the fact that the thieves assume that chalices,patens, tabernacles etc are solid gold.....
***
You are referring to stealing of valuables/perceived valuables, an action which makes sense in terms of the monetary award the perp is looking forward to.
My comment was in reference to plain vandalism. I can get that scumbags want to make some money by stealing, but I don’t understand what they get out of destroying property, religious or otherwise. (I realize that destruction of church property is often tied to Satan worship.)
very true i9ndeed...I have a large hall which we rent out for parties, weddings, etc...people damage it, tear up flower beds, mar the tables, draw grafitti on the wayys, punch their fist through the drywall, break glasses, smash beer bottles on the driveway....anything to cause damage.....we collect a $250.00 damage deposit, and return few...pathetic
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.