Baby Jesus heirloom stolen from historic Philly church; 'person of interest' sought
PHILADELPHIA - A year after their stained-glass windows were vandalized, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage, a historic church in Northern Liberties was hit with another blow.
This time, the church's Baby Jesus was stolen from its nativity.
What we know:
The decades-old, heirloom Baby Jesus, was taken from the nativity scene inside the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann in Philadelphia at the corner of North 5th Street and Girard Avenue around January 6.
The scene is set up each Christmas season right next to the remains of Saint John Neumann.
It happened a year after three of the shrine's historic, expensive stained-glass windows were smashed last February by a vandal and just repaired and replaced days ago. That incident caused $40,000 worth of damage.
However, this new damage is different. Father Kingsbury says, the baby Jesus statue has more spiritual value than dollar value. Unlike the jeweled crown stolen off the Mary statue in a St. John the Evangelist Church in Center City last week.
The nativity scene is always around through mid-January when Catholics continue to celebrate Christmas.
"Actually, Christmas, we begin on Christmas Day, the celebration of Christmas that is different than society that ends on Christmas Day. We have the days immediately following as very high celebrations, and then we continue through the season, so that's not unusual to have it that late. So that explains why the nativity scene was still up inside the shrine here and the Baby Jesus was still there," Father Kingsbury explained.
The shrine's elaborate stained-glass windows have been returned to their original state with an extra protective clear layer.
What we don't know:
Police say they are looking to identify a person of interest in connection to the most recent theft.
He was spotted on the church's surveillance cameras, and reportedly "acted suspiciously" in other cities prior to the latest case at the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann.
What's next:
Father Kingsbury hopes the shrine's infant Jesus will be returned in one piece.
"If you could return it and you want to do it quietly, you could just leave it. We're open all the time. Just place it anywhere in the shrine, and we'll find it," Father Kingsbury said.
"If you want to talk about it, we're open to what was on your mind, why did this happen, and maybe we can help," he added.
Confessions are heard at the church at 5 p.m. daily.
"If you wanted to drop it off, that would be greatly appreciated," Father Kingsbury said.