Is your church subject to robbery?

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CatholicZ09

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My church is usually not subject to robbery, but there are times where things are kept on high watch because sometimes we do get robbed and such. The sacristans put out all the necessary vessels for daily Mass and Sunday Mass the night before the Mass, and so the chalices and ciboria are sitting on the credence table in the church overnight, and the credence table is “out-of-view” from the congregation, so it’s not usually an issue that stuff would get stolen. The sacristan told me today that someone this past week stole a chalice from the credence table that was set up for daily Mass and candle donation money from the back of the church. They also were telling me that they caught a person sleeping upstairs in one of the CCD rooms. They usually leave a door unlocked at the church so that people can go in and pray, but they can’t even do that now. It just baffles me that someone so desperate would steal a chalice that contained the Blood of Christ. But, of course, they more than likely don’t realize the fact that that’s what that is used for. Is your church subject to robbery often or occassionally? Are there any precautions taken?
 
We have had several break-ins. The main doors get locked 30 min after mass has ended and if you want to go to the chapel, you have to go by the office to get in, they have video cameras set up in the front lobby as well do to theft. All things get locked away when there is no mass. Nothing is left out.

The church is in a high traffic area, university across the street, 2 schools, a community league, strip mall, plus apartments(not saying residents are an issue, but it does bring lots of traffic, visitors, dumpster divers, etc). We have replaced the glass on the doors several times 😦

But no parishioners mind going past the office to get to the chapel, so it’s all good, if it keeps things where they belong, and the building in tact, we won’t complain about a minor inconvenience of using the office doors.
 
We have not had theft, but the sacred vessels are locked up in a locked cupboard. I don’t ever set up the night before for this very reason. They would have to break into the church, then break into the Sacristy, then into the locked cupboard, which contains candlabras, monstrances, candlesticks, sacred vessels, etc. We have had outside vandalism and theft.
 
We have not had theft, but the sacred vessels are locked up in a locked cupboard. I don’t ever set up the night before for this very reason. They would have to break into the church, the break into the Sacristy, the into the locked cupboard, which contains candlabras, monstrances, candlesticks, sacred vessels, etc. We have had outside vandalism.
 
I have had my wallet stolen during Mass in the past (I now take my purse with me everywhere, to Communion, and I never leave it in the choir loft alone), and the choir loft at my former parish has been broken into many times. Just because you are in a Church doesn’t mean that ever person who enters will always have the best of intentions.
 
We haven’t had theft, but the concern is still there. We have a built-in safe for the vessels
and such which happens to be in the adoration chapel. So, we’ve gotten new restrictions so you have to ring the doorbell to be let into the chapel, and that is only done from the inside.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
My church is usually not subject to robbery, but there are times where things are kept on high watch because sometimes we do get robbed and such. The sacristans put out all the necessary vessels for daily Mass and Sunday Mass the night before the Mass, and so the chalices and ciboria are sitting on the credence table in the church overnight, and the credence table is “out-of-view” from the congregation, so it’s not usually an issue that stuff would get stolen. The sacristan told me today that someone this past week stole a chalice from the credence table that was set up for daily Mass and candle donation money from the back of the church. They also were telling me that they caught a person sleeping upstairs in one of the CCD rooms. They usually leave a door unlocked at the church so that people can go in and pray, but they can’t even do that now. It just baffles me that someone so desperate would steal a chalice that contained the Blood of Christ. But, of course, they more than likely don’t realize the fact that that’s what that is used for. Is your church subject to robbery often or occassionally? Are there any precautions taken?
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Our suburban church has had break-ins and vandalism, and is now locked at 9pm. Since we have 24 hour Exposition and Adoration on Fridays one has to get a key to get in if they are signed up for a late hour. the last time we had a breaking the kitchen was vandalized, but nothing was stolen. The police determined it was some teenaged boys and they were caught.
 
We’ve had several occasions of trying to break into the Tabernacle, but not the sacristy, or going after sacred vessels. Only the Tabernacle.

2 unsuccessful, and 1 successful. Although the guy was caught and arrested.

His mother had the nerve to ask our pastor not to prosecute him, but “forgive” him.

Fr. said he did forgive him, although that didn’t mean he shouldn’t be punished for his actions.
 
I am in a rural church, but the church is on a US Highway. We never had any breakins until 2 summers ago. We think it was kids as they went in the sacristy and took a half bottle of wine, then took a crowbar and tried to get into the old wooden tabernacle and broke it all to pieces. We think they were looking for the offering at it was a Sunday night. The consecrated hosts are in the tabernacle behind the altar.

So now the church is always locked. Although any member who wants to have a key can. Father does not want anyone not being able to come in and pray.
 
We once had the poor box stolen :(.

It was located near the front doors, so those are now locked. The side entrance is still usually open though.
 
When I was a kid, ( Am in my 30s now) Father used to not have to lock the church. you could come in anytime. Well, after having the tabernacle violated more than once, we put in Cameras, and the doors are always locked when something isn’t going on. the tabernacle key is hidden in the sacristy, which is always locked. When we have 24 hour Eucharistic Adoration, there is always someone in there, (obviously) and then when the doors are locked, they have a sign on them with a cell phone number they can call…and tell the person on the other end who has the pre paid phone who they are and so they can be let in. we haven’t really had any problems lately. I just think it very unfortunate that some folks can’t just respect the church and leave it be, at any hour. We aren’t a mega huge parish, but not a small one either…prolly 800 familes. But we also are in a University town and lots of transients here for what ever reason. I hear that the churches in North Dakota, I live in SD, are having to batten down the hatches beacuse of all the new people with the oil boom.
 
While we have not had any robberies per se as far as I know, I do know that our church has a ton of security - multiple alarms, etc. Our sacred vessels are in a locked safe in the sacristy, and there are multiple alarms on the building. If our cleaning lady is working in the building alone, she usually keeps the doors locked, even during the day, for her safety. Also, our priests have had death threats, so there is always an armed police officer with a police vehicle at the Sunday masses.

In other words, our priests aren’t taking any chances.
 
We have had several break-ins. It always surprised me because the church, the offices and the rectory were all one building. The church wasn’t usually the target, the office was.

The first time the young man broke a window in the office door, opened the door and made his way to the office and opened the filing cabinet. He had been in the office before and knew where the key was. He had to have spent at least 20-30 minutes in the office, opened the bags containing the collection, carefully opened every envelope and took the bills. He left the coin and the cheques and the carefully replaced everything in the filing cabinet. When we came in in the morning, only the broken window gave a clue.

He repeated himself the next week, only this time he took change and bills. The third time he tried it, a few weeks later, the windows in the door had been barred. He opened the window in the living room (Pastor was sleeping in the next room) and climbed in. He helped himself to food in the fridge and since the collection was now being deposited on Sunday there was no money. He stole two sets of keys and a bottle of wine. He walked out the door and attempted to steal the Pathfinder but couldn’t get it started so he stole the car that a friend had left with the priest for safekeeping. The cops spotted him pulling out of the driveway and gave chase. When they caught him he admitted everything. His mother had worked as a cleaner at the rectory and he’d often been in the office.

More recently the office was again broken into. This time there was no cash available but the thief found a chequebook and some cancelled cheques for an account which was rarely used. He’s not dumb, he figured we wouldn’t notice for a while. He wrote two cheques to himself, marked them as “Bingo Prize” and forged the Youth leader’s signature on them. I’ve just been subpeonaed to appear as a witness at his trial – has a list of charges as long as my arm.

We only knew we’d been been broken into because he pitched a rock through the sacristy window. Now, I couldn’t get through the hole made by that rock without ripping myself to shreds but there was no blood, no fibers, nothing, so it appears he came in during the Fall Fair and hid in the church until everyone was gone. The rock was just for show and if he hadn’t done that we wouldn’t have known that the cheques had been stolen until a month or more later when the bank statement came in. As it was, we looked in the file drawer and didn’t see anything out of place. It was a few days later when I decided to look more closely and found the missing cheques.
 
Our Lighthouse CD display stand in the narthex. Someone worked at the brackets on the money box, managed to get them loose. It was only noticed, when someone bumped into the display, and the panels fell off of the money box. So, the display is emptied 3X a day. If they’re getting any money now, it’s not much.

We’ve had people pilfer from the collection basket. Our youth would usher most Masses. However, with the theft problem, Father and our Parish Council didn’t want the young people in a situation, where they might have to confront a thief. The adults were asked to step up, and volunteer.
 
The only thing I’m aware of having been stolen was the infant Jesus from our Nativity scene last Christmas.

The thief was kind enough to return it this past Good Friday… in the toilet.
 
I recently was in a nearby parish. They had lots of signs all over telling you to hold onto your purse and belongings. Not only did people have things stolen while they went up to receive Holy Communion, but people have had things stolen from the pew while they were kneeling right there. I assume a lot of church robberies are done by drug addicts who are trying to get their next hit.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Is your church subject to robbery often or occassionally? Are there any precautions taken?
Click to expand...
I attend a small, rural parish in south-west Georgia, but theft (in general) is a major problem in this community. The monstrance was once stolen from our parish and in other parishes in my diocese I know of these events:
  1. A tabernacle was stolen
  2. Wine for communion was stolen
  3. Christmas toys collected for poor children were stolen
  4. Poor boxes were repeatedly broken into
Concerning tabernacles, I think thieves are clueless as to what they are, and therefore assume that they contain money for the simple fact that they are locked.

My church now keeps the sacristy locked whenever Mass is not going on. The church itself is locked when not being used.

We constructed a prayer shrine in the backyard of our parish center, and it contains chairs, book shelves, crucifix and a reliquary containing a first-class relic of St. Theresa of Avila. The door is kept locked but has a push button combination which we give out to those interested in using it. The prayer shrine gives people the opportunity to have a quiet place to pray when the church is locked (or when the church is being used for other activities such as choir practice). So far this shrine has not been targeted by thieves (to a casual observer, our parish center is simply a residential house and the prayer shrine is simply a large tool shed in the backyard).
 
hannajomar said:
I assume a lot of church robberies are done by drug addicts who are trying to get their next hit.
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I think this assumption is correct. There certainly seems to be an increasing correlation between the rise in drug use in society and the amount of theft that takes place in churches. I have assisted in ministry to people in drug rehabilitation clinics and have heard first-hand accounts of what certain people addicted to drugs are willing to do in order to feed their habit. Many would have absolutely no problem in stealing from a church (well, they may feel guilty about it, but the addiction would override any feelings of guilt).
 
asia53 said:
Our Lighthouse CD display stand in the narthex. Someone worked at the brackets on the money box, managed to get them loose. It was only noticed, when someone bumped into the display, and the panels fell off of the money box. So, the display is emptied 3X a day. If they’re getting any money now, it’s not much.

We’ve had people pilfer from the collection basket. Our youth would usher most Masses. However, with the theft problem, Father and our Parish Council didn’t want the young people in a situation, where they might have to confront a thief. The adults were asked to step up, and volunteer.
Click to expand...
we had something similar happen with our Lighthouse display. except this joker took it into the restroom off the sacristy and beat it against the floor till the whole coin box came off. he didn’t count on the acoustics in our church and the blessed racket that it made.
 
Not only drug addicits but all addicts. Our poor boxes were broken into, perps caught on camera, found and prosecuted. Nothing of value is left out, it is put in a safe. Behind our church is a forest where people live, they have been known to go through cars and hit the poor boxes. Now the poor boxes are no longer poorly made.
 
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