Center City church burglarized as gold, jeweled crown stolen off Mary statue
PHILADELPHIA - A historic church in Philadelphia's Center City became the victim of a recent burglary, and the parish is asking for the public's help.
Surveillance cameras at St. John the Evangelist Church in Center City caught the moment police say a person broke into the church.
On Saturday at around 1 a.m., police say a person broke into the church by smashing a stained-glass window and stole a valuable golden crown off the head of the statue of Mary.
"I suppose there’s a value to the gold and the jewels, but I think they are in the 10s of thousands of dollars. I don’t know that yet but we have to do some investigation to figure out what something like that is worth. It’s not about the monetary value, it’s what it means to this church and this city," said Father Thomas Betz, a Pastor at St. John the Evangelist Church.
A plaque inside the church says the significance of the statue dates back to 1899, when the interior of the church was destroyed by fire. The only thing that remained untarnished was the statue.
The crown on her head was made of jewelry and gems donated by parishioners after the fire.
"It broke my heart to see somebody come in here and desecrate this sanctuary," said Monica Carvajal a member of the church.
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Carvajal says it’s tough for her to sit in the church and see the crown gone.
"It means a lot, that’s the blessed mother of Christ, so we really pray to her on that alter," said Carvajal.
Spiritual leaders believe the person who stole it knew exactly what they were looking for.
"Moves very quickly and very deliberately right for that crown. You realize its somebody who has heard, maybe somebody coming to mass, somebody attending some kind of event here, who has heard that that’s a beautiful and a valuable piece of art," said Betz.
Police are still searching for the crown and the suspect those at the church are choosing the path of forgiveness.
"I hope he finds help and God forgives him for what he did," said Carvajal.
Church leaders are praying that this crown will be returned to the church.
They are also hoping that the message about this incident continues to spread so that it might make it even more difficult if this person is trying to sell it.
No arrests have been made as police ask the public to contact them with any information.