Dear Parishioners,
I regret
to inform you of an incident that occurred in the church late in the evening of
Sunday, October 25th. A man who appeared to be experiencing the effects of drug
intoxication entered the sanctuary of the church and, before being subdued, did
considerable damage to the main altar. I want to commend our security guard
David, who was on duty that evening, for his outstanding response and prompt
action. The police responded quickly and in sufficient numbers to subdue this
individual without further harm being done. I am grateful for their commendable
call to duty. While a considerable amount of damage was done to the main altar
very quickly, it is certain that things would have been worse if all concerned
had not handled the situation as professionally as they did. I am glad to
report that the tabernacle was not disturbed and the reliquaries of our beloved
saints are completely intact.
The first
thing I ask of you is to pray for this poor soul who committed these acts, who
is so obviously troubled. He is currently in police custody and will be
prosecuted for his crimes. In Christian charity we ought to pray for him.
In the
end, there is nothing harmed that cannot be repaired or replaced. This will
take time, however. I have been in touch with Archbishop Kurtz, as well as our
insurance agent, and we will be working closely together to restore everything
to normal as quickly as possible. We take great pride in the fact that our
church is open 24-7 as a place of peace and prayer in a world that certainly seems
to need them more and more. While these events are certainly regrettable, know
that we continue to take all prudent and reasonable precautions to avoid such
situations, and our commitment to being a haven of peaceful prayer is
undiminished.
Entrusting
us all to the intercession of our patron St. Martin, and to St.s Magnus &
Bonosa, I remain,
Sincerely
in Christ,
Fr. Paul
Beach
Pastor