by Nirmala Carvalho

Unknown looters desecrated the sacrament of the Church of St. Joseph in Juhu, to steal the monstrance and ciborium, both gold-plated. In his homily for the Mass auxiliary bishop asks the faithful to "pray for the guilty and invoke the mercy of God."

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - A group of unknown persons desecrated the church of St. Joseph in Juhu (Mumbai), more specifically the Sacrament located in the Adoration Chapel. The fact was discovered yesterday at 5 o'clock in the morning when the priest found the open tabernacle, some consecrated hosts scattered on the ground and the box with the offerings unhinged and empty. Even the monstrance and ciborium - containing the sacred species - were taken away. The police are still on the trail of the culprits.

On the same day Msgr. John Rodrigues, the new auxiliary bishop of Mumbai, celebrated a Mass of reparation. During the homily, the prelate urged the faithful to "pray for those who committed this act and invoke the mercy of God."

"It was clearly a theft - the parish priest, Fr. Vincent D'Mello explains to AsiaNews - because the monstrance in the chapel of Adoration and the ciborium of the tabernacle that is in the church are gold-plated. Even the consecrated hosts contained in the ciborium were stolen, we have found some in a corner of the parish. "

 

• india
• catholic
• church
• desecrated
• theft
• sacrament