Subiaco Abbey, in Subiaco, Arkansas, had its altar smashed with a hammer, and relics inside the altar stolen on Jan. 5, 2023. A suspect has been arrested and is set to be charged in connection with the attack. / Subiaco Abbey
Boston, Mass., Jan 6, 2023 / 13:51 pm (CNA).
The altar of an Arkansas Benedictine monastery was destroyed Thursday, and several relics of ancient saints were stolen.
Subiaco Abbey in Subiaco, Arkansas, said in a press release that on Jan. 5, a man using “a regular hammer and sledgehammer/ax” began destroying the abbey’s marble altar by smashing it in different places. Founded in 1878, Subiaco is home to a community of 39 Benedictine monks.
Jerrid Farnam, 31, of Subiaco, Arkansas, was arrested Thursday afternoon in connection with the crimes.
The suspect left a gaping hole in the top of the altar and broke open stones that contain relics, the abbey said. Two reliquaries — small, brass-colored boxes that each contained three relics of saints from more than 1,500 years ago — were stolen, according to the Logan County Sheriff’s Office.
A closer look at the extent of the damage to the altar. Subiaco Abbey
Father Elijah Owens, OSB, the abbot of the monastery, told CNA Friday that the relics contained in one of the reliquaries were those of St. Boniface, St. Tiberius, and St. Benedict of Nursia.
The other reliquary contained the relics of St. Tiberius, St. Marcellus, and St. Justina, Owens said.
The man approached the tabernacle and removed a cross located on top as well as the tabernacle’s veil before being “interrupted,” the abbey said. Neither the tabernacle nor the Eucharist were damaged, the abbey said.
Visitors to the abbey notified the leadership, and the Logan County Sheriff’s department was called and arrived at the scene. Subiaco Academy, the nearby school of boys in grades 7–12 run by the abbey, was “locked down as the investigation proceeded,” the abbey said.
When police arrived, the man was gone. Shortly after police investigated and left the scene, the man arrived back at the church, the abbey said. Police were again contacted.
A monk was speaking with the man and “it became clear” that the man was the perpetrator, the abbey said. The man was subsequently arrested, and police found one of the reliquaries with three relics in it in the man’s truck, the abbey said.
The reliquary containing the relics of St. Tiberius, St. Marcellus, and St. Justina have still not been found, Owens told CNA.
A hammer and a “sledgehammer/ax” were also found with marble dust on both of them, the abbey said.
“Throughout this, our monks continued with our regular communal prayers. Now that the gentleman has been caught and justice will proceed, may we also offer a prayer for him,” the abbey said.
“Due to the desecration of the altar, Abbot Elijah and the monastic community will undertake the penitential rite, reparation for the desecration, and offer a Mass of Reparation,” the abbey said.
The altar has been “stripped bare” and “all customary signs of joy and gladness have been put away,” the abbey said.
A portable altar will now be used until repairs are made, the abbey said.
The vandalism of the altar took place under the Crucifix gracing Subiaco Abbey. Subiaco Abbey
Police said that Farnam also entered a vacant house near the abbey. An item from the house was found in Farnam’s truck, police added. His truck was subsequently seized by police and towed.
Farnam has not been officially charged yet and his bond has not been set.
“At this point, his anticipated charges are theft of property, criminal mischief in the first degree, residential burglary, breaking or entering, and public intoxication,” the sheriff’s office said.
Pending “the nature of the destruction and the difficulty in estimating the cost of the items destroyed and stolen and that an altar was desecrated,” his charges are subject to change, the sheriff’s office said.
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Pope Francis interacted with an energetic crowd of 65,000 young adults and catechists at Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Feb. 2, 2023. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Feb 2, 2023 / 05:45 am (CNA).
To bring about peace, “prayer is the most powerful weapon there is,” Pope Francis told thousands of young adults and catechism teachers in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday.
The meeting in Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa, the capital city of the DRC, took place on Feb. 2, the third day of the pope’s visit to the central African country. On Feb. 3, Francis will fly to Juba, South Sudan, for the second leg of his peace pilgrimage.
Pope Francis on Thursday interacted with an enthusiastic crowd of about 65,000 young people and adults, some of whom traveled days to be present for the papal visit.
Pope Francis interacted with an energetic crowd of 65,000 young adults and catechists at Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Feb. 2, 2023. Vatican Media
“Yes, prayer conquers fear and enables us to take our future into our hands. Do you believe this?” the pope said. “Do you want to make prayer your secret, as refreshing water for the soul, as the one weapon you carry, as a traveling companion on each day’s journey?”
During the second half of his speech, the pope was repeatedly drowned out by the energetic audience, which broke out in cheering, singing, and dancing despite the hot weather.
Pope Francis interacted with an energetic crowd of 65,000 young adults and catechists at Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Feb. 2, 2023. Vatican Media
In his talk, Francis used the imagery of the hand to speak about the future of the DRC.
“God has placed the gift of life, the future of society and the future of this great country in those hands of yours,” he said.
“Dear brother, dear sister, do your hands not seem small and frail, empty and unsuited to so great a task? It’s true,” he said. “Let me tell you something: your hands all look alike, they all look alike, but none of them is exactly the same. No one has hands just like yours, and that is a sign that you are a unique treasure, an unrepeatable and incomparable treasure.”
He invited those present in the stadium to open and close their hands while meditating on whether they wanted to choose peace or violence.
Pope Francis interacted with an energetic crowd of 65,000 young adults and catechists at Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Feb. 2, 2023. Vatican Media
“Notice how you can squeeze your hand, closing it to make a fist. Or you can open it, to offer it to God and to others,” he said.
“You who dream of a different future: from your hands, tomorrow can be born, tomorrow can be born from your hands, from your hands peace so lacking in this country can at last come about.”
Bishop Donatien Bafuidinsoni Maloko-Mana from the Diocese of Inongo, in western DRC, was at the meeting.
He told EWTN News that people from his diocese traveled in boats on the Congo River for two to four days to arrive in Kinshasa.
Bafuidinsoni said the Congolese people were disappointed last year when the pope’s visit was canceled, but “now that the pope is here it’s a big joy for us all.”
Even those who are following the trip from home “are really happy,” he added. “It’s a message of joy, of peace, and of hope for all.”
Sister Asterie Neema, 29, is from Rutshuru in eastern DRC, where her brother was brutally killed last year. Elias Turk/CNA
Sister Asterie Neema, 29, is from Rutshuru in eastern Congo, where, she told EWTN News, they are under the control of an armed group called M23.
Neema said her older brother was killed in 2022 by unidentified rebels in front of his 12- and 7-year-old children.
In her 29 years of life, she said, her region of the DRC has never seen peace. Neema added that she has forgiven her brother’s killers, but she hopes for peace in her country.
Not everyone in the audience was Catholic. Two young Muslim men also attended the youth gathering with Pope Francis.
Yassine Mumbere, from Butembo in eastern DRC, told EWTN News that he came to the event because all young people were invited. He also studied at a Catholic school.
Muslim Yassine Mumbere, 35, from Butembo in eastern Congo, (R) with his friend (L) at the youth gathering with Pope Francis in Kinshasa, DRC on Feb. 2, 2023. Elias Turk/CNA
The 35-year-old Muslim Scout leader said he hopes the pope’s trip will help bring peace to the DRC’s eastern region.
In his speech, Pope Francis encouraged those present to be careful of the temptation to point fingers at people, or to exclude others because of “regionalism, tribalism, or anything that makes you feel secure in your own group, but at the same time is unconcerned with the life of the community.”
“You know what happens: first, you believe in prejudices about others, then you justify hatred, then violence, and in the end, you find yourself in the middle of a war,” he said.
To create a concrete sign of community, Francis invited the crowd to hold hands with those beside them and to sing a song together: “Imagine yourselves as one Church, a single people, holding hands.”
Pope Francis interacted with an energetic crowd of 65,000 young adults and catechists at Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Feb. 2, 2023. Vatican Media
“Yes, brother and sister, you are indispensable and you are responsible for your Church and for your country,” he said after the song. “You are part of a greater history, one that calls you to take an active role as a builder of communion, a champion of fraternity, an indomitable dreamer of a more united world.”
After Pope Francis spoke against corruption — inviting everyone to shout together, “Go away, corruption!” — the stadium broke out in loud singing and cheering.
The event’s emcee had to invite the crowd to quiet down before the pope could continue speaking.
Francis also drew attention to two Congolese martyrs and their examples of faith: Blessed Isidore Bakanja and Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite.
Statues of Blessed Isidore Bakanja and Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite, young Congolese martyrs beatified by Pope John Paul II, in Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa, DRC, on Feb. 2, 2023. Elias Turk/CNA
Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Family, was killed during the civil war in 1964 at the age of 24. Anuarite was beatified by Pope John Paul II during his visit to the DRC, then known as the Republic of Zaire, in 1985.
Blessed Isidore Bakanja was a Catholic convert at the age of 18. He became a catechist and was devoted to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He died in 1909, around the age of 21 or 22, after succumbing to an infection caused by a beating and other torture he received at the hands of a European manager for refusing to remove his brown scapular at work. Bakanja was beatified in 1994 by Pope John Paul II.
Statues of the two blesseds were present at the youth meeting, where people in the crowd shouted and held signs asking the pope to make them “santi subito!”
The pope pointed to another example of virtue from the DRC, Floribert Bwana Chui, who was killed in 2007 in Goma.
The 26-year-old man, who worked as a customs manager, was killed for refusing to cooperate with corruption; specifically, he did not allow the passage of expired food products.
A spectator at Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa, DRC, on Feb. 2, 2023, holds a sign with the phrase “santi subito” in reference to two Congolese blesseds. Elias Turk/CNA
“He could easily have turned a blind eye; nobody would have found out, and he might even have gotten ahead as a result,” Francis said. “But, since he was a Christian, he prayed. He thought of others and he chose to be honest, saying no to the filth of corruption.”
“Now I want to tell you something important,” he added. “Listen closely: If someone offers you a bribe, or promises you favors and lots of money, do not fall into the trap. Do not be deceived; do not be sucked into the swamp of evil. Do not be overcome by evil!”
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2 Comments
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I ask again, why dont these churches have a decent security system that would alert someone to things like this?? Failing that, in neighborhoods with high crime, it would be smart to have the church locked at very early or late hours of the day when the church is apt to be vacant.And, if there are 39 monks there as reported, how is it possible this hammering was not heard? At the least, a monk should be stationed in the church when it is opened to the public. A small group of them could each take 2 hour shifts without much trouble. This is a terrible desecration, and could have been avoided..
Some of your comments make me believe you are kind of shooting from the hip, or regurgitating some cud you have been chewing on for a while, without knowing if it is even applicable.
Your comments about high crime areas are not pertinent. Other comments seem to indicate that you do not know the layout of the buildings/campus or how the Abbey/Academy functions.
Your knee-jerk reaction to blame the victim(s) is one of the things that is really wrong with the world today. I am sorry that you are so jaded that you feel that if you do not stand guard over something, that it is your fault if someone else smashes it with a hammer. Just wondering, if someone smashed your car while you were in a store shopping, would you feel it was your fault for not having someone else stand guard over it? Or if they broke into your home while you and your “car guard” were at the store, would you feel you were to blame since you did not have yet another guard at your home? What if during this shopping trip, they attacked a family member somewhere else? Where would we ever get enough guards?
The fault in this desecration lies squarely with the man who smashed the altar. Hopefully he ( and all of the rest of us ) will repent and find forgiveness.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I ask again, why dont these churches have a decent security system that would alert someone to things like this?? Failing that, in neighborhoods with high crime, it would be smart to have the church locked at very early or late hours of the day when the church is apt to be vacant.And, if there are 39 monks there as reported, how is it possible this hammering was not heard? At the least, a monk should be stationed in the church when it is opened to the public. A small group of them could each take 2 hour shifts without much trouble. This is a terrible desecration, and could have been avoided..
Some of your comments make me believe you are kind of shooting from the hip, or regurgitating some cud you have been chewing on for a while, without knowing if it is even applicable.
Your comments about high crime areas are not pertinent. Other comments seem to indicate that you do not know the layout of the buildings/campus or how the Abbey/Academy functions.
Your knee-jerk reaction to blame the victim(s) is one of the things that is really wrong with the world today. I am sorry that you are so jaded that you feel that if you do not stand guard over something, that it is your fault if someone else smashes it with a hammer. Just wondering, if someone smashed your car while you were in a store shopping, would you feel it was your fault for not having someone else stand guard over it? Or if they broke into your home while you and your “car guard” were at the store, would you feel you were to blame since you did not have yet another guard at your home? What if during this shopping trip, they attacked a family member somewhere else? Where would we ever get enough guards?
The fault in this desecration lies squarely with the man who smashed the altar. Hopefully he ( and all of the rest of us ) will repent and find forgiveness.