BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BURGLARS continue to show blatant disregard and lack of respect for God’s messengers and their abode as well as their place of worship, as the newly-built St. Thomas' Lowland Anglican Church Rectory in Paradise Estate, Nevis was burglarised over the last weekend.
Speaking with the Rector, Father Alaric Francis, SKNVibes was told that he had noticed a door was open in the rectory within which a number of personal items were scattered. He also said it was discovered that his office was ransacked and a sum of money and jewellery were stolen.
“We lost some cash, both personal and the church, and also some jewellery. The house was secured around 8:00 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 25) and I discovered the break-in sometime after seven o’clock on the following morning.”
Father Francis is appealing to the perpetrator(s) to return the stolen articles, especially the money that belongs to the church.
“I would like to indicate to the person or persons that what they did was not only dishonest but dishonourable and I would offer some forgiveness and ask the person(s) to return the items stolen, especially the cash which is the property of the church.
“They must know that God understands and that although it may seem okay to them, we still have to think about the future and they have no idea what God may have in store for them for doing something of this nature.”
Speaking to retribution, the man of the cloth said, “Retribution is up to God and not up to me! Although the law has a role to play in this, I bow to a higher power and I would hope that the perpetrator or perpetrators would recognise that there is a higher power to be considered.”
The matter was reported to the police, who indicated that investigations are ongoing.
This is the second time in three years that the church’s rectory was burglarised, which was situated at another location on Nevis.
A similar but more sinister incident took place at the St. George’s Anglican Church on Cayon Street, Basseterre in St. Kitts on Sunday, December 30, 2012.
This had involved the an armed man who stole EC$13,921,47 from the church’s office while the Treasurer was awaiting the arrival of a security agency to remove the money from the house of worship.
