The Tablet Staff
The Diocese of Brooklyn is working with the 103rd Precinct of the New York City Police Department following an attempted robbery this past weekend at St. Gerard Majella in the Hollis section of Queens.
St. Gerard Majella is located at 188-16 91st Avenue in Hollis, Queens.
On Sunday morning, a man tried to steal the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the lawn outside the parish rectory, removing the Marian statue from the grotto.
Surveillance video shows the man entering the gate, lifting the statue over his shoulder, and exiting the property.
The video then shows him throwing the statue back into the rectory garden moments later after a neighbor and motion light deterred him. There was no damage to the statue.
“Sunday morning, as we started opening up the church to welcome people to pray in a special way for peace in the world, and blessings during this Lenten season, a disturbed person attempted to steal our welcoming statue of Mother Mary,” said Father Josephjude C. Gannon, Pastor of St. Gerard Majella.
“Thankfully, due to our good neighbors in Hollis, this person did not succeed. This incident is sad, and a bit scary, but is a lesson for all of us that even in those dark and frightening moments God is protecting us. The light of Easter will always shine on us and Mother Mary will always guide us as individuals and as a community,” Father Gannon continued.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
In September 2019, St. Gerard Majella was vandalized multiple times in the same week.
