Sunday, August 21, 2011

Burglar at Mount Argus caught on internet television cameras

A burglar at one of Ireland’s most famous churches has quickly ended up in the arms of the Gardaí as a result of being caught in full view on the internet television cameras installed some years ago.

Mount Argus church in Dublin, mother house of the Passionists of St Patrick’s Province that includes Ireland, Scotland, Paris, Botswana and South Africa, was the target of a burglary in recent days.  

Famous and known throughout Ireland, Mount Argus was where Saint Charles of Mount Argus lived out his days, ministering to the poor and sick of Dublin in the latter half of the 1880s.  

Today, his tomb, which is fast becoming a place of pilgrimage as his holiness becomes known more widely, is located within the church.    

In 2006, and to mark 150 years of the Passionist presence at Mount Argus, a permanent exhibition was established in the church and which chronicles the history of the Passionists from their first arrival into Ireland and throughout their 150 years.  

Many items from the archive, including written records, notes, letters, and some precious items such as the stolen chalice, were professionally displayed and freely open to visitors.  

In the six years since the exhibition first opened, there have never been any difficulties so the unwelcome visitor last weekend was a first. 

The permanent exhibition is housed alongside a museum dedicated to the memory of St Charles of Mount Argus, who was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI in June 2007.  

Thankfully, none of the artefacts or memorabilia associated with St Charles and which includes such items as the coffin in which he was buried, were disturbed.

Among the items stolen was a chalice and paten, presented to a Passionist by the people in the 1880s to mark his jubilee.

Speaking to CiNews, Fr Bernard Lowe, c.p., Superior at Mount Argus said that the chalice was behind toughened Perspex and initially, there was no indication of how this had been broken.  

However, a subsequent search revealed a crucifix and which is now believed to have been the implemented used to break into the display.

When a complete review was made of the exhibition, it was also discovered that a Waterford Crystal bowl, the Millennium Bowl, owned by the late Taoiseach, Jack Lynch who attended Mass regularly at Mount Argus and presented by his wife, Mairín, is also missing, along with a skull cap that had belonged to Bishop Urban Murphy c.p., the first Passionist bishop of Gaborone in Botswana and where the Passionists first established a mission in the 1950s.  

According to Fr Bernard, the Gardaí were quick to detain their suspect once they had viewed the image from the internet television cameras and the detained man brought them to a hiding place where the missing chalice and its paten were located.  Unfortunately, both had suffered damage.  

Some diamonds that decorated the chalice had been prised off and the paten too had a piece missing from it, apparently in an attempt to get a value for the gold from a dealer. 

However, when questioned, the suspect denied any knowledge of the Waterford Crystal bowl and of the missing skullcap.  

Fr Bernard says that the Passionists are now looking into whether it is possible that these items may have been taken on a previous occasion but not discovered until now.  

The Passionists value both items and Fr Bernard says they are greatly saddened to lose them.

While the majority of the items in both the permanent exhibition and the Saint Charles exhibition have no monetary value, they nonetheless are hugely important to a congregation that has made a significant contribution to Irish life.  

As a result, the Passionists are reviewing the security precautions and, at least for the time being, they have removed a number of precious items including a chalice used by Saint Charles and, until now, available to be seen.  

Fr Bernard went on to say that continuing the keep the exhibition open to the public full-time is important to the Passionists and it is not expected that this unfortunate occurrence will result in the closure of either of the two exhibitions.

Asked by CiNews to comment on the role that the internet tv cameras had in apprehending the suspect so quickly, Tony Bolger, CEO at churchservices.tv, said, “We’re very pleased that our technology proved to be so instrumental in this outcome.  Mount Argus is one of the earliest churches in Ireland to use the churchservices.tv system and while the primary purpose is to bring the church into the living room of the visitor, it is clear that with these systems, there is a pair of eyes in the church all the time and this has to be a good thing in these days.”

Mount Argus is located on the south side of Dublin city, in the Harold’s Cross area of the city.  

Founded in 1856, the Passionists have a long history in the city and since their foundation in Dublin, established communities in Belfast (Holy Cross, Ardoyne), Enniskillen (St Gabriel’s, the Graan), Crossgar (Tobar Mhuire) in Co Down as well as other houses now closed including Colooney, in Co Sligo.  

The foundation stone for the church was laid on September 19 and the Church was officially opened on the December 18 of the same year.

Mount Argus, or to give it its proper title, the church of St Paul of the Cross, became a parish of the Archdiocese of Dublin in 1974.  

In December 2009, and following over 150 years in the original monastery, the Passionists moved into their new monastery opposite the original.