THE Roman Catholic Church’s St Andrew’s Parish in Kingsdale, Bulawayo, has been forced to suspend services after thieves stole sacred vessels used to conduct mass on Monday.
They stole ciboriums, which are considered the most
important aspect of the catholic service. Ciboriums are goblet-shaped vessels
for holding Eucharistic bread in Holy Communion.
The theft occurred just three weeks after armed robbers
raided the same church and attacked its priest, forcing him to spend the night
at the neighbouring Marianhill Institution, an organisation that houses
Catholic priests.
Father Louis Chileshe, who heads the St Andrew’s Parish,
said thieves ransacked his house, Parish Hall and the church, and stole vessels
used to conduct mass.
“In the church we have instruments that we use for our
church service called the mass. They stole all the chalices and ciboriums.
These are the containers where we store sacred species and what we call the
body and blood of Christ. They stole mass wine, candles and candle stands,
among other things,” said Father Chileshe.
He said as a result of the theft, services would be
suspended until the church has been cleansed.
“In the Catholic Church, for a parish to be considered
operational, there is an act called consecration where the Bishop comes and
blesses the place and declares it holy ground for worship.
And when an act like the one which has happened of
individuals breaking into the church, not only to steal, but also to desecrate
the sacredness of the church, a consecration service has to be conducted. So
temporarily the parish will be closed to allow for consecration of the place.”
Father Chileshe said he was forced to abandon his church
house after robbers raided it at the end of last year.
“This is the second incident in a space of three weeks. On
December 30, 2021, three men broke into the house while I was asleep. They
harassed me and demanded money and my personal property. When they saw that the
money was not enough, they beat me up.
They took parish laptops, a parish computer, my personal
computer and my iPad. They also took some groceries and kitchen utensils from
the house. With each passing day we are still discovering the small things that
are missing in the house,” said Father Chileshe.
“On Sunday, I left the house to go and sleep next door
because I belong to the congregation called Marianhill Institution. After the
first incident, I decided to spend most of my nights in the Marianhill
community so I left this place around 9.30pm.
The following day I came back to the house at 5.55am and
found the doors of the house, parish and church all broken and reported to the
police.”
He said they discovered that various items had been stolen
in his house, parish hall and the church.
The news crew observed that the church had started
repairing some of the damaged property and had replaced locks at various
buildings.
Bulawayo Archbishop Alex Thomas said the theft shows that
the church is also vulnerable to criminal activities.
“I don’t know what they were looking for, but they
ransacked the whole house and church. We don’t know what they were looking for
because there were only church things.
“They are still compiling a list of things that were stolen
as this is the second time the same church has been raided in three weeks,”
said Archbishop Thomas.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said
investigations into the matter are ongoing.
“The thieves got away with more than US$3 000 and R8 215
and we are investigating a case of unlawful entry and theft.
“Investigations are ongoing and we are appealing to members
of the public who might have information that may lead to the arrest of the
suspects to come forward.” Chronicle
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