By Tien-Shun Lee
A thief climbed through a window of the Our Lady of Mercy Church in Forest Hills and stole money out of the church's collection boxes sometime between 7 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday, police said.
“Thank God the material loss was not significant, and it didn't seem to be a bias incident or a hate crime against the church,” said Monsignor Gerald Langelier, the pastor of the Catholic church, located at 70-01 Kessel St. “But it is still a violation of something sacred, and it's upsetting. They violated this sacred space that this church is.”
Langelier said five collection boxes placed by the church's devotional candle stands had been jarred open, and one of the candle stands had been knocked over, causing many candleholders to shatter on the floor.
The church's devotional candle stands are placed in front of various statues, forming small shrines.
In total, a maximum of $100 had been stolen from the boxes, which are emptied out regularly by church workers to prevent them from becoming too full , Langelier said.
About three years ago, somebody broke into the church director's office in the church hall, stole a computer and messed up the office, recalled Langelier, who has been the pastor of the church for the past 19 years.
The pastor said the thief may have been familiar with the church because the stairway that the intruder used to gain access to the church hall is not well known. The other stairways used to access the church hall were locked as usual on the night of the robbery.
The window that the thief entered through is usually locked, said Langelier. On Saturday night, after the church was closed up at around 7 p.m. following a 5 o'clock mass, it was probably closed, but not locked, he said.
Langelier said the church would look into beefing up security following the incident by installing more lighting and camera surveillance.
About 1,000 families belong to Our Lady of Mercy Church.
According to Police Department statistics, there have been 158 burglaries so far this year in the 112th Precinct, where the church is located. Burglaries have declined 3.6 percent within the last year and 74.5 percent within the last 10 years.
Reach reporter Tien-Shun Lee by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com, or call 718-229-0300, ext. 155.
