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Thursday, March 28, 2024

St. Augustine church broken into, vandalized

<p>St. Augustine Church members pray before noon Mass. According to a recent study, women who regularly attended religious services were 56 percent more likely to be optimistic and 27 percent less likely to show signs of depression.</p>

St. Augustine Church members pray before noon Mass. According to a recent study, women who regularly attended religious services were 56 percent more likely to be optimistic and 27 percent less likely to show signs of depression.

Gainesville Police are looking for a person who broke into St. Augustine Catholic Church and damaged several religious items either late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

Although nothing appeared to be stolen from the church on West University Avenue, the damages cost at least $1,500, said GPD Sgt. David Schramek.

Someone used a brick to smash a window on the side door of the church to get inside, Schramek said. 

A student came into the church to pray around 8 a.m. Friday and found the sanctuary in shambles, said Father Wilson Colmenares. The student told the church’s pastor, Father David Ruchinski, who called police. 

The damage included a dented tabernacle, which is a box that carries communion hosts, a broken processional crucifix, which is an elongated crucifix carried in at the beginning of mass, and broken sacred oil containers, Colmenares said. 

The oil was spilled on the floor in the front of the sanctuary. The tabernacle, which is too heavy to pick up, was knocked over onto the ground and dented, Colmenares said. 

The processional crucifix looked like someone banged it against something, Colmenares said. The cross was so badly bent, the Christ figure broke off from it. 

Detectives are still investigating, Schramek said.

Contact Amanda Rosa at arosa@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @AmandaNicRosa

St. Augustine Church members pray before noon Mass. According to a recent study, women who regularly attended religious services were 56 percent more likely to be optimistic and 27 percent less likely to show signs of depression.

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