Churches in America are now implementing stricter security measures this Christmas season not because of the raging terrorism fears sweeping the nation but because of a spike of robbery incidents concerning baby Jesus sculptures.
The New York Post reported that various churches in the United States have had different kinds of robberies all concerning the baby Jesus. At St. Anthony of Padua church in Soho, the theft started 11 years ago when the Jesus sculpture in the churchyard's Houston Street-facing Nativity scene was stolen not just once but twice.
"We have a 5-foot wrought-iron fence — someone athletic could easily jump over it," Reverend Joseph F. Lorenzo said.
They took extra precaution after that and installed a bolt in the fibreglass Jesus' back and attached it by chain to a nearby stone to avoid any future robberies. They even installed a couple of security cameras surrounding the manger.
When the St. Stanislaus Kostka Polish Catholic parish installed video cameras after their baby Jesus sculpture was stolen twice in a span of five years, their security measures failed since thieves still managed to steal the Jesus figurine earlier this January.
"The video surveillance was put in just because (the Jesus figure) was stolen so many times," Deacon David Mikolai said. "We're shell-shocked by this."
Meanwhile, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, a Jesus figurine was once replaced by a severed pig's head one Christmas morning. The FBI investigated it as a hate crime.
The Roman Catholic Church of St. Patrick in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn operates differently since they have placed a system of wires to hold Jesus, his manger, and the other statues in place.
Monsignor Michael Hardiman explained that the wires were necessary because in his previous church, St. Sebastian in Woodside, Queens, an unknown person tried to smash a plexiglas covering that protected the Nativity scene a few years back.
"I don't think there was any motivation," he said. "I just think somebody was a little drunk."
The St. Anthony - St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn protects its Nativity scene behind a 12-foot-high, 8-foot-wide fence. "It's steel bars, so nobody can get in," said Reverend Kavungal Davy.
