Moments of fear for Roberto Marongiu, a Sardinian priest who lends his spiritual service to the Pilgrim Madonna of Altobello, in Mestre (Venice), who found himself face to face with a thief who entered the church to raid it.

It is precisely Marongiu who recounts the bad experience, from the columns of the Gazzettino: «Last Saturday, while the faithful were reciting the rosary, around 18.15, we heard a thud. I went to look and found an energumen, in the churchyard, who had thrown to the ground the offering box that is at the back of the church. I don't know how he managed to lift it and move it, because it is very heavy. Evidently, by dropping it, he hoped it would open or in any case that some money would spill out. When I came out, he was already gone.'

And it is yet another episode of the kind, so much so that Don Marongiu and the Somaschi fathers who manage the church intend to take action: «A few days ago a lady was robbed of the purse she had placed on the counter . Sometimes even just a distraction is enough. For this reason we recommend everyone to be careful with personal items. It is good to keep them in custody even when you go to receive communion, during mass, for example . However we are of the idea that we have to do something, we can't delay any longer».

To avert further thefts, Marongiu and the Somaschi fathers have therefore decided to close the church in the afternoon, but there are plans to install a video surveillance system : «If we can activate a remote control system, which has a certain deterrence and efficacy, we can try to keep the church open, giving a signal of presence to the neighborhood. We would not want a faithful, perhaps an elderly person, who comes for a moment of prayer, to have to find himself face to face with some ill-intentioned person", concludes the priest.

(Unioneonline/lf)

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