An unknown person entered the Nuestra Señora del Rosario parish, in Quilpué (Chile), during the early hours of Tuesday, June 4, causing destruction and desecrating the Blessed Sacrament.
In a statement to the faithful, the parish stated that the criminals “caused structural damage, caused destruction to a historic stained glass window and, most painfully, desecrated the Blessed Sacrament contained in the Monstrance that was in the Lateral Tabernacle.”
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Acts like this, they denounced, “constitute an attack on the Catholic Christian faith, in addition to violating the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the fervor and piety of all the people of God.”
Given what happened, they call for an act of reparation that consists, first of all, of 40 hours of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, beginning on Friday, June 7, and concluding on Sunday, June 9 at noon.
At the end of the Eucharistic adoration, on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. (local time) a Mass of reparation will be celebrated in the parish, presided over by the Bishop of Valparaíso, Mons. Jorge Patricio Vega Velasco.
While inviting the entire community to pray for the damage perpetrated on the Blessed Sacrament, the parish called for prayer, fasting and penance as a gesture of reparation.
In addition, they announced that together with their legal advisors they will take legal action, delivering all the evidence and evidence to the authorities.
“We hope that these attacks on faith will not be repeated,” concludes the parish message.
The statement was signed by the parish priest of the place, Fr. Pedro Nahuelcura Vargas; and the parish vicars, Fr. Ramon Tapia Rodriguez and Fr. Carlos Suarez Corail.
According to could be seen Through the security cameras, a subject climbed on the temple gate, which was closed, and first tried to open a vehicle that was parked there. Unsuccessful in the attempt to steal the car, he climbed a wall and then entered the parish, breaking an old stained glass window that pays homage to Saint Sebastian.
In addition to taking 30,000 Chilean pesos from the tithe (a little more than 30 dollars), the thief stole the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament, and caused damage to the Tabernacle, when trying to open it by force.
Carabineros agents arrived at the scene to carry out investigations and took photographs and fingerprints, to try to find the perpetrator of the theft and desecration.
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.