Conde, Paraíba, Brazil, October 12, 2021
Photo: Facebook
An Orthodox church in eastern Brazil was broken into and looted late last month.
A parishioner of the Church of the Theophany of the Holy Trinity in Recife, Pernambuco, reports that several liturgical items were stolen, as well as fans and other items of value. Several windows, which had only recently been installed, were also broken.
Suffering serious health issues lately, the rector of the Church, His Grace Bishop Ambrósio of Recife, had to move to the nearby St. Nicholas Monastery. Thus, Holy Trinity Church is only opened every other Sunday, giving criminals plenty of time to break in.
Besides the cost of fixing the windows and replacing what was stolen, the parish also decided to install a new security system to prevent further occurrences.
A fundraising campaign was launched to help the struggling parish cover the necessary costs. $680 of the $1,355 goal have been raised so far.
The church belongs to the Brazil Diocese of the Polish Orthodox Church, headed by His Eminence Archbishop Chrysostomos of Rio de Janeiro and Olinda-Recife, vicar to His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland. Bp. Ambrósio is, in turn, a vicar to Abp. Chrysostomos.
According to the site of the Polish Orthodox Church, it has one cathedral, four parishes, one mission, and two monasteries in Brazil.
The Polish diocese in Brazil is made up almost entirely of Brazilians, rather than immigrants from other countries. It used to belong to the schismatic Orthodox Metropolis of Portugal, Spain, and All of Brazil, which joined the Polish Church in 1989. The faithful in Brazil remained with the Polish Church after the bishops in Portugal and Spain left in 2000.
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