It was the second week of June, 1812, when the first brick was laid at St. John's Cathedral in Belize City. And though it turns 194 this week, Saint John's, it seems, gets no respect from criminals. This weekend a burglar proved that nowhere and nothing is sacred ground. Between 7 pm on Friday night and mid-day on Saturday someone broke into the northeastern wing of the historic church. Father Lloyd Neal says nothing was stolen but the church was trashed.
Fr. Lloyd Neal, Priest in Charge of St. John's Cathedral
"It was in the afternoon, a little after one o'clock, that I was alerted to this through two of my parishioners who told me that a window was open. So when I came I checked and the window was open and when we opened the building it was then that we recognized that someone had gone through that window facing ACC. They ransacked the cupboards, took out the cleaning agents, and the vestments, and candles, and different things were about the place. They just rummaged through things. Thank goodness they did break into the vault where we keep our precious vessels but thank God none of them, as far as we can ascertain, has been taken. So we are happy about that because those are some valuable pieces to us."
Keith Swift,
What do you think they were looking for?
Fr. Lloyd Neal,
"I suspect they were looking for money. Wine was there, they could've taken the wine if they wanted to. The precious vessels were there and other valuable things but they didn't trouble with those, they just ransacked the place.
I wouldn't want to say that society has gone so berserk that now they are striking at the church. The church should still be the safest place you can find. At the same time society has become wracked with crime and violence as we know."
Police believe that the burglar is a mental patient. Fr. Neal reminded us today that four years ago a mental patient broke into the church and set himself on fire. The church is still recovering from that attack. Anyone with information can call crime stoppers at 0-800-922-TIPS. This week, the church celebrates the patronal festival to celebrate the laying of the first brick.
