Catholic Churches Suffer Rash Of Thefts And Vandalism, But Cause Remains A Mystery
A photo of the tabernacle (left) from a Brooklyn, New York, church and what remains of it (right) after it was stolen on May 29. Photos via the New York Police Department
NEW YORK — It was on the afternoon of May 28 that Frank Tumino, a Catholic priest, walked into the sanctuary only to make a shocking discovery.
The 2-foot tabernacle at St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn was stolen in a burglary that left a trail of rubble and consecrated Communion scattered across the altar. Marble fixtures surrounding the tabernacle were destroyed and the head of an angel statue decapitated.
“This is devastating, as the tabernacle is the central focus of our church outside of worship, holding the body of Christ, the Eucharist, which is delivered to the sick and homebound,” said Tumino, who serves as the church’s pastor.
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The ornate silver and gold tabernacle — dating back to 1895, with a value of $2 million — was ripped from its heavy steel case with the use of power tools. The tabernacle houses the Eucharist, the which Catholics believe is the body of Christ when consecrated.
Tumino called the theft “a heinous act of disrespect” towards Catholics.
The desecration was the latest in a string of incidents across the United States, triggering fears of future vandalism given the supercharged political climate around abortion, LGBTQ rights and bishops denying politicians Communion.
The vandalism may not necessarily be tied to one or more of these factors — rising crime rates is also a possibility in the wake of the pandemic — but church officials remain vigilant as the summer approaches. While the motivations remain a mystery, the outcome has rattled Catholic churches across the country. Some have resorted to increased security measures, like locking doors when Masses aren’t taking place, installing security cameras and even erecting barbed wire and fences to avoid being targeted.
As police in New York look to find the culprits, investigators in Texas had to deal with the theft of the True Cross that took place the following day at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. The relic — a piece of the cross on which Jesus was crucified — is venerated by Catholics. Canon law says it is forbidden to sell relics.
In the same diocese, a suspect was charged with burglary in connection with the May 8 theft of a tabernacle from St. Bartholomew the Apostle Catholic Church in Katy, Texas.
“Thanks to the Katy Police Department’s diligent efforts and skill, a suspect has been apprehended and charged with burglary,” the Galveston-Houston archdiocese said in a statement. “It is our understanding the theft was not motivated by last week’s release of the draft Supreme Court opinion involving Roe v Wade.”
The tabernacle was eventually found near a fast-food restaurant, emptied of the consecrated hosts — something the diocese said is “a theft beyond material price (that) is immeasurably hurtful to us and speaking theologically, is sacrilegious.”
Again in New York, police have yet to make an arrest in the May 19 case of vandals who decapitated and smashed two of the three statues of shepherd children who witnessed an appearance of Mary in the Portuguese town of Fatima in 1917. Two weeks later, New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan visited Our Lady of Sorrows Church in an effort to bring comfort to parishioners.
"Goodness, truth and beauty are going to have the last word,” he said, “not evil and viciousness and ugliness and division.”
There is no connection between these incidents, although they do come after pro-abortion rights groups made threats to Catholic churches and organizations. The Catholic Church has been on the forefront when it comes to advocating for anti-abortion measures.
Furthermore, these three thefts, and the possibility that they could be tied to hate crimes, come on the heels of another spate of church vandalism that took place two years ago in the United States and Canada. In 2019, Europe, and specifically France, saw widespread church fires and other acts of vandalism, a frightening trend that Richard Bernstein, a former foreign correspondent at The New York Times, called acts “Christianophobia.”
It was just last month that pro-abortion rights protests — deemed an issue with “a lot of passion” by the White House — spilled over into Catholic houses of worship following the leak of a draft Supreme Court decision that argued for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion across the United States.
The National Catholic Register listed a number of incidents that took place last month, many of which targeted churches.
Among the most notable occurred in Los Angeles, where Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels was disrupted on May 8 just before Communion when protestors shouted and unfurled a large banner before being escorted out.
This past Saturday, Catholic parishioners clashed with pro-abortion rights protesters at the monthly “Witness for Life” procession that took place near the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in New York’s Little Italy.
After Mass ended and the group of Catholics embarked on their walk to a local Planned Parenthood, the protesters — which included members of the Democratic Socialists of America — attempted to stop the procession from taking place. Police officers were needed to separate the groups before the situation worsened. One protester even attempted to grab a crucifix from those in the procession but was thwarted by officers.
“Racist cops, rapist priests — no matter what, we’ll take the streets,” the group chanted.
The Rev. Brian Graebe, one of the anti-abortion organizers, said both the FBI and NYPD had been reviewing threats to the basilica following the event.
“It’s the most high-profile pro-life event in the city,” he told National Review. “This is the new normal.”
Last year, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops began documenting and tracking vandalism at Catholic sites across the country. Aaron Weldon, who is with the bishops' Office of Religious Liberty, told the National Catholic Reporter that the rise in arson, graffiti and defaced statues at churches prompted officials to starting tracking them.
“When you're talking about a statue being smashed, it's kind of hard to know what's going on,” he said. “There's not really a message there. Did they single out the Catholic Church, or is it simply that our symbols of religion are so visible that they make an easy target?”
Clemente Lisi is a senior editor and regular contributor to Religion Unplugged. He is the former deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City. Follow him on Twitter @ClementeLisi.