$2M Gold Tabernacle Stolen From Park Slope Church, Police Say

Park Slope NY

31 May, 2022

9:54 AM

Description

BROOKLYN, NY — A solid gold tabernacle worth about $2 million has been stolen from a Park Slope church, police said. The burglar snatched the tabernacle from the St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church on Sixth Avenue and Park Place some time between 6:30 p.m. Thursday and 4 p.m. Saturday, according to the NYPD. The burglar cut open the protective, metal-clad altar and made off with the bejeweled, solid gold tabernacle, which held the Holy Eucharist — ritual communion items — according to the Diocese of Brooklyn. A statue of an angel was decapitated in the process, and holy items were strewn across the altar, photos show. "To know that a burglar entered the most sacred space of our beautiful Church and took great pains to cut into a security system is a heinous act of disrespect," said Father Frank Tumino, pastor of St. Augustine in a statement. "This is devastating, as the Tabernacle is the central focus of our church outside of worship, holding the Body of Christ, the Eucharist, which is delivered to the sick and homebound." The Diocese of Brooklyn described the tabernacle as "irreplaceable due to its historical and artistic value." The holy object was made in the late 1800s about the same time the church was built, the diocese said. The church was closed for construction during that time and the sanctuary's security cameras weren't operating, police told The New York Times. In its statement, the diocese called the burglary a "brazen crime of disrespect and hate."