$10,000 worth of items taken in church break-in.

PositionLOCAL NEWS

Byline: Matthew Bruun

FITCHBURG - Police are investigating a break-in at St. Bernard's Church early Saturday in which more than $10,000 worth of items were stolen.

Sgt. Glenn C. Fossa said the thefts from the sacristy at 240 Water St. were reported Saturday morning.

Rev. H. Edward Chalmers, pastor of St. Bernard's, said he discovered seven chalices, five ciborium and two candelabras missing Saturday morning. He later discovered that the church had been entered after a window in one of its doors was broken.

Rev. Chalmers said the primary emotion he felt upon discovering the theft was not anger.

"Probably discouragement more than anything else," he said.

The chalice and ciborium are used during Mass. The vessels were empty when they were stolen, Rev. Chalmers said. A ciborium is a covered cup for holding communion wafers.

The items are gold-plated and have a replacement value of more than $10,000, he said. Detective Christopher LeDoux and Officer Francisco Balaguer are investigating and police had no leads as of late yesterday, according to Sgt. Fossa. The stolen items have sacred value as well as their physical worth, police said.

Anyone with information on the break-in is asked to call...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT